Discord
by ShadaraFoxx
Summary: After the final battle, kishin Asura and Shinigami-sama make an unlikely deal that gets Maka stuck living with the God of Insanity himself. But when she thought that fear and courage couldn't be more opposite, she discovers that the two not only complete the world, but each other.
1. The Chase

HAI GUYS :D

So this is my first fanfic...evah. I wanted to make it special, so I spent oodles of time on it, even though I only have the first three chapters done...But that's not zeh point. Zeh point is that I have uploaded the finished chapters, which is what you all care about anyway. This first chapter was the hardest to do in my opinion, because I suck at doing intros and action scenes...and paraphrasing. I made this scene go by quick to kinda mimic how fast a real chase goes...

The pairing is AsuraxMaka because i wuv them soo much...(I have to thank Z-Raid for being one of the few people who actually appreciates the awesomness of crack pairings) but the actual paring part won't come in until say...chapter 5 or 6...

ALSO (warning you guys ahead of time) I TEND TO TAKE A WHILE WITH UPDATES

Just want to put that out there

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Soul Eater

"Heh heh..."

The black fox chuckled as she swerved away from the volley of pink blasts that rained down from her pursuer. The fox raced under the cover of the low-hanging branches of the pine trees, glaring back at her enemy; a dark form flying through the sky on a skateboard soared closer, both magic guns pointed at her for another round. His yellow-orange narrowed as the two made eye contact. The fox put on a burst of speed and weaved in and out of the cover, hoping to throw off the Shinigami's aim. She succeeded; he lowered his guns, letting go of the triggers. He tilted his skateboard upward and veered off to the right, out of sight.

The fox thought herself safe, when someone raced in front of her with blinding speed. Skidding to a halt, the vulpine turned heel and bolted the other way, sensing the presence of a new opponent. A flash of blue caught her eye as the ninja struck out with a sword that radiated dark energy. Bunching her hind legs, the fox leaped into the air, safely out of reach. She landed on a low-hanging tree branch and raced along it, carefully putting her paws in front of the other to keep her balance. The next tree branch approached quickly, so the fox readied herself for another jump.

Someone was already waiting for her at the end of the branch. An ash blonde girl leaped out from the shadows of the trees, wielding a scythe that glowed blue with mystical energy. The girl gave a roar of triumph, swinging the scythe downward at the fox, who would have been cut in half if not for a split second decision. The fox let herself fall, disappearing over the edge of the branch and into the fern bushes below. The scythe cut through the tree with a shuddering _CLANK_, embedding itself deep in the trunk. Grinning at such an opportunity, the fox darted out from under the bush, yipping tauntingly.

She couldn't celebrate for long. The ninja had caught up and was on her trail once again, though a new weapon was readied. He held a giant shuriken in his grip, held out behind him by one arm. The boy gripped his readied arm with the other hand, lending more strength as he hurled the star with all his might. The fox briefly turned to see the shuriken spinning toward her, cutting through branches and vines without resistance. Closing her amber eyes, the fox did the most extraordinary thing. She used her built-up speed to race up the nearest tree's trunk, pushing backwards off of it, sailing through the air in a huge backward flip. The blade wheeled past under her, a mere hairsbreadth from her forehead, before crashing into a cluster of trees further ahead. The fox landed with a thud on the grass, eyes glowing with triumph as she opened them.

The ninja, who had slowed himself to watch his shuriken do its work, gaped in shock as the fox, who was very much alive, gave him a small smile before taking off again into the shadows beyond. The fox continued forward, feeling quite proud of herself for having been clever enough to evade three meisters at once without receiving a single scratch.

"Got you!"

As soon as the fox emerged into a large clearing, she found her path blocked by the Shinigami. He was crouched in the grass, his magic guns transformed into cannons that clung to both his arms. As she jammed her paws down into the earth to stop herself from coming closer, the Shinigami grinned before launching a powerful cannon blast aimed at her.

A huge explosion went off in the clearing, disintegrating several nearby trees and a good portion of the ground where the impact struck. When the smoke cleared, the Shinigami peered down into the hole, seeing nothing but the crater his blast created. No sign of the fox. The Shinigami lowered his cannons as they reverted back to their original form. "It's over..." he breathed.

The Shinigami let out a grunt of surprise when a furry mass struck him in the upper body, knocking him off balance. The black fox looked down into his yellow-orange eyes with intelligent amber ones, using her momentum from her pounce to leap off the kid's chest, striding across the clearing and back into the undergrowth. She didn't look back this time, but she could hear the Shinigami's angry curses followed by the sound of him taking off into the air on his floating skateboard.

It bought her just enough time. By the time the Shinigami and the other two meisters regrouped to continue their pursuit, the fox had reached her destination. She broke free of the cover of trees that marked the edge of the forest, darting toward a huge cliff wall that bordered a mountainside. A section of the wall was glowing, transparent, and the fox could see a tunnel inside the wall from behind the rock. With a mighty leap, the fox soared through the air, just as the three meisters burst out from the trees, attacking all at once. Scythe, bullet and shuriken battered ineffectively against the cliff side as the transparent rock sealed back up the moment the fox disappeared safely inside it.

On the other side of the rock, the fox landed awkwardly on the dirt, loosing her balance when she slid across the floor. Her chest heaved as she fought for breath, but she knew that she was safe. _I succeeded..._


	2. No Hard Feelings

WELCOME TO CHAPTER DOS

Yes, I keep switching perspectives (and don't expect it to stop anytime soon XD) but I swear that there's a purpose. Same with the familiar. THE OWNER OF SAID FOX WILL MAKE AN APPEARANCE (but not anytime soon)

To avoid me saying too much about the future, Imma shut up and get right to it

Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Soul Eater

"Damn it! She got away!"

The three meisters from Shibusen settled down near the cliff wall for the night, giving up their attempts to break through the rock. The magic barrier proved too strong for even their most advanced techniques. The blonde scythe meister took their failure the hardest. She paced around the campfire, fuming. Her partner, an albino boy, vaguely listened to her ranting, half-asleep from their exhausting pursuit. The other two meisters watched her angrily stomp around, solemn.

"Don't worry too much about it, Maka." said the Shinigami. "It was just a familiar. Not a big deal."

The girl turned to face him, eyes fierce; both meisters flinched. "It most certainly _is _a big deal, Kid! That creature spies for witches! Who knows what it was doing in Death City!"

Death the Kid sighed, shaking his head. "There's no arguing with you, is there? Just try and get some sleep, we need to report to Father in the morning."

The ninja would have agreed, but he was now slumped over on his back, asleep. His mouth gaped open and his limbs were sprawled out on the grass. His weapon partner sat next to him, dozing off herself. The Shinigami's two weapons were asleep, leaning on one another against the cave wall. None of them looked in the proper condition to argue.

When Maka had internally ranted enough to let off steam, she settled down on the grass and assumed a makeshift sleeping position, folding her arms below her head. _What do I tell Shinigami-sama? How can I tell him that we discovered a witch's familiar and let it escape? _She closed her eyes when she felt the burning of tears. She wanted to push them away, but found herself unable to. Keeping her innermost emotions bottled up did her no good. _This is all the kishin's fault..._

Just a few months ago, the three meisters she now camped with had led an assault on the Demon God of Insanity, only to be beaten down easily. Maka was the last one standing, but her courage couldn't prevail like she'd hoped it would. It was humiliating to walk back to her most loved and trusted and tell them that she failed in her most important task. Their crestfallen looks, their disappointed stares...it was too much for her to bear. And ever since that battle, she hadn't been the same. She pushed herself harder -too hard, took everything too seriously, and could no longer stand to face failure. She thought that by pushing herself to her limits, she could make up for her failure.

She buried her head in her arms. _Nothing can make up for that kind of defeat..._Her inhibitions came running back, and she found her inner barriers too slow to respond. When her tears came, they came, a river of sobs and self-loathing. _Why am I so useless? _

Several high-pitched squeak-sobs later, her partner Soul Evans patted her on the shoulder. "You'll be okay, Maka." he said awkwardly, not sure if she'd react negatively or not. He learned that Maka could be a wild card when she became emotional.

She mumbled a few incoherent words that Soul interpreted as a question. "Of course you're not useless, Maka." he assured her, placing his hand on her head. "Don't take everything so seriously. You'll drive yourself crazy with all this worrying."

Maka sniffed. She lifted up her head and rubbed her face with her sleeves. When she looked up at him, her face and eyes were still red from crying, but she looked more like her old self again. "Sorry, Soul. You're right."

Soul managed a small smile, but a huge yawn reminded both of them how tired they were. "Whew. We should get some sleep now. You'll feel better with a good night's sleep."

He leaned up against the rock wall, pulling his headband over his eyes as a makeshift sleep mask, yawning again. "Night, Maka."

The scythe meister nodded and curled back up into a little ball, keeping her legs and arms close. "Good night, Soul."

The grueling trip through the vast forest and across countless miles of desert left Maka wishing that she didn't have feet. It was mid afternoon by the time they reached the end of the desert, spotting Death City on the horizon. But the final stretch seemed like the longest and most painful, even for Black Star, who had chatted the entire time. _When I get back home, I'm going to drink so much water. _Maka thought, fanning herself with both hands. Wearing a black suit in the desert was definitely not the smartest decision. But she wasn't going to show weakness in front of her friends, not after her incident the night before.

Maka squinted up into the sky above the city, frowning. Red storm clouds swirled over Shibusen forming a circular formation, though there weren't as many as there had been before the group left. She found that extremely odd. Kid seemed to notice too; he narrowed his eyes at the city, deep in thought. _I wonder what happened while we were gone. _Maka looked back at Soul, who was wiping sweat off his face. "If I never go out into sunlight again, it'll be too soon..." he muttered.

Patti, one of Kid's weapons, pointed at him. "Vampire!" she declared dramatically, laughing and shouting like a maniac. Her older sister, Liz, tried to calm her down, as they were drawing unwanted attention from some of the people who gathered at the city's gates. Kid kept his eyes focused on the academy, walking a little faster. _He knows something. _

Maka jogged to catch up with him, leaving the rest of the group behind. "Hey, Kid. Why are you walking so fast?"

"We have a report to give, remember?"

"...you're wondering about the clouds too, right?"

He looked sideways at her. "Yes, actually. I just thought it strange for there to be less madness in the air than before. I can still sense the kishin's wavelengths, so it's not as if the madness is gone."

"I guess we'll find out when we see Shinigami-sama."

Shibusen was a ghost town. Hardly anyone passed by in the hallways, and those who did were staff, people who were _supposed_ to be there. Maka found the silence unnerving, and the academy seemed less like home without all of the students bustling about. Even Patti and Black Star kept silent. Kid took the lead once inside the hallways, navigating them with haste. With every step, he seemed to become more agitated. Maka was practically running to catch up. "Kid, wait! Don't go so fast!"

But there was no stopping the Shinigami Express. He bolted down the stairs, stomped through the halls, and burst through the doors of the Death Room, not caring that the group was running after him. But a single glance was all it took for the Shinigami to freeze in his tracks. His mouth gaped open and his eyes widened with shock.

Standing next to Shinigami-sama, gazing at the door to see who violently barged in, was kishin Asura.


	3. The Visitor

ITS THE MOLTRES CHAPTER

I WOULD TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THIS CHAPTER BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE I TEND TO SPOIL THINGS FOR PEOPLE (like the finale for Dexter XD)

And in case anyone's going to ask this question, YES MY FAVORITE ANIMAL IS THE FOX AND YES, MY FAVORITE SONG IS 'WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?'

Disclaimer: If I owned Soul Eater, I wouldn't be living in an old apartment.

"F-father? W-what's going-"

Kid stepped up to Shinigami-sama, but barely said another word before Maka shoved him aside, angrily stomping up the steps to the platform. Asura eyed the scythe meister, who kept her glare on him at all times, and unconsciously took a step back; the fire in her eyes reminded him of the look he gave her as she preached about courage, that led to his fit of terror. _But this isn't courage I'm seeing now, _he thought. _It's anger. Nothing more. _This assurance allowed him to relax, but he kept an eye on the girl just to be safe.

Shinigami-sama held up both hands in an effort to calm the furious scythe meister, which was wasted. "Now, Maka, there's no need to get upset-"

"Upset? _Upset? _You bring the damn kishin into the academy and you think I'm _upset?_"

"It's not what it seems-"

"Is it? Because from where I'm standing, it _seems_ pretty damn suspicious to me!"

Asura watched the girl rampage for a whole three minutes, leaving her friends wide-eyed. Even he was speechless for a moment. But he didn't come into his enemy's midst for idle chit-chat. He stepped in between the fuming girl and Shinigami, using one scarf to gently push Maka away. "If you don't mind me interrupting-"

"I _do_." Maka snapped.

"- I'd like a word with Shinigami."

"Shinigami-_sama._" she corrected. He wrapped his scarf around her mouth to keep her from speaking, and turned to the Shinigami "So the conditions are acceptable?" he continued, as if nothing had happened. Shinigami peered off to the side. "Asura, please release my student."

He kept his gaze level. "Answer my question first."

Maka clawed at the scarf covering her mouth, yelling muffled words that were undoubtedly curses. The albino scythe stepped forward, his arm transforming into a blade. "Let her go!"

He ignored them both. He stared into Shinigami-sama's empty eye sockets, waiting for an answer.

The god of death let out a sigh. "Fine. Your terms are accepted."

"Excellent."

He released the scythe meister, but, to his annoyance, she was replaced by the young Shinigami. Kid held Maka back with one arm (who was two seconds from spitting venom in Asura's eyes), while managing a questioning gaze at both his father and brother. "What terms? What exactly is going on here?"

Asura started, but Shinigami answered first. "It was a surprise for me too, but Asura came to me earlier today and requested a negotiation."

"A...negotiation?"

"Yes. Asura wants to live his life without being hunted like an animal, and in return, he controls the madness wavelength and lives here in Death City."

Asura frowned. "I'm capable of speaking, thank you-"

"Quiet. As I was saying, Kid, it's best for all of us that Asura remains here where I can keep an eye on him. And he even agreed to keep the madness wavelength under control."

The young Shinigami seemed unconvinced, but he closed his mouth and looked down at his feet. "If you think it's a good idea, then..."

Shinigami-sama bobbed his head. "While you're here, kiddo, how did your mission go?"

Kid swallowed and Maka visibly paled, but the small scythe meister stepped up and bowed in apology. "We...we failed. The familiar got away."

"...I see. Well, that's okay. We all fail sometimes."

She only bit her lip and nodded, rejoining her weapon partner and other friends. The kishin looked on, disinterested but intrigued. _A familiar? In Death City? No witch has dared come back since the Snake._

Asura found it time to address one more issue with his negotiation. "Ah, Shinigami, one more thing."

The god of death didn't turn to look at him. "Yes?"

"I'll need a place to stay." This wasn't completely true, but he wanted to enjoy himself by pushing his old enemy's buttons.

"Hm..."

The Shinigami sauntered over to the group, leaving Asura standing next to the mirror on the top platform. He whispered with his students, and there was a bit of a debate before his father turned back to him. "Any preferences?" he asked.

Asura frowned. "Not the blue-haired brat."

Black Star punched his fist into the air, mouthing the word 'yes'. Maka and Kid, however, made nervous faces at each other. The god of death straightened up. "You will stay with Maka."

"_What?_ Y-you can't put him with me!" Maka whined.

Asura smirked at the blonde meister. "You heard Shinigami-_sama._"

She shot him a look like she wanted to breathe fire at him. "With all due respect, Shinigami-sama, I don't think-"

The god of death waved his hand, silencing her. "It'll be fine. Your Grigori wavelengths prevents his madness from infecting you."

"It's not fair!" she protested. "Grigori or not, he's still the freaking demon of insanity-"

"_God_ of insanity, thank you." Asura corrected.

"Shut it! I don't want him anywhere near me!"

The kishin opened his mouth to continue the argument, but Shinigami-sama did what he does best to stop conflicts. "SHINIGAMI-CHOP!" His block hands cracked down on both Asura and Maka's heads, silencing them effectively. Maka fell backwards, and her weapon partner caught her, asking her if she was alright. Asura only covered his throbbing head with his scarves to hide the pain, and glared at his father. _Humiliating! He still treats me like a child! _

The god of death stepped in between them. "That's enough! Asura, stop provoking my student! Maka, you'll just have to endure it! Now all of you, go home! I will have no more fighting!"


	4. New Residence

THIS CHAPTER WAS AWKWARD FOR ME TO WRITE

Honestly, I could seriously expect this to happen. Anyone remember the second fight between Asura and Death, when Asura said that he 'hoped we could come to an understanding?'? I guessed that meant that he didn't think fighting was necessary and he didn't have to die. Unfortunately, Death didn't exactly see eye-to-eye. But I assumed that if they did make a negotiation, it would be similar to this. But eh, who the hell knows. It's Soul Eater. Anything can happen. (hint hint, wink wink)

Disclaimer: I didn't own Soul Eater before and I don't own it now.

It was an awkward walk back from the Death Room to Maka and Soul's apartment. The two students kept close to each other, while Asura hung behind them, not saying a word since they left. The sun had begun to set by the time the group reached the apartment. Blair the cat, Maka's other roommate, was waiting for them when they came home, but was wary when the kishin followed them inside. He barely looked at anyone, standing against the wall in silence. The cat and students formed a little huddle in the kitchen, whispering to each other.

"So what's the kishin doing here again?" Blair asked.

"He has to stay with someone here in the city, and Shinigami-sama voted us." answered Maka.

"But does he seriously expect us to deal with him? He's insane for crying out loud." Soul said.

All three peeked over at the kishin. He was staring at his bare feet, flexing his toes in boredom. The group huddled back together.

"What happens when he wants to kill someone?"

"I think we'd be the first to go..."

"Insane or not, Soul, Blair, we're in charge of keeping a close watch on him. Shinigami-sama was pretty confident in us, so we shouldn't make this harder than it already is."

Soul rubbed his temples. "Ugh, whydoes stuff like this always happen to us?"

His meister gave him a stern look. "This is no time to be complaining. I don't like it either, but we're stuck with him."

"Fine. But I'm not saying a word to that freak." he then slunk off into the hallway, locking himself in his room. Blair looked between Maka, Asura, and Soul's closed door and transformed into a cat, scampering off into Maka's room. The scythe meister was left alone, feeling awkward and exposed._ Did they seriously just leave me here? _She felt that she should say something to Asura. But she wasn't sure what to say against her greatest enemy, who had insulted her and her friends, and nearly killed them all. But as she thought about it, Asura could have killed them, but he didn't. It would have been so easy for someone as strong as him. Yet he didn't.

As she wondered about how she was still alive, she didn't notice that the kishin had sensed her staring at him and looked up. His scarves twitched uncomfortably. "What?" he asked, snapping the girl from her thoughts. She quickly realized the situation that she unconsciously put herself into, and she searched her mind for an answer. "Uh...um..."

"Don't hurt yourself. I'll make it easy for you. I'll be over there," he nodded his head toward the living room couch, "you do whatever it is humans do, and we all get along fine."

Her first instinct was to get angry at him. He had no right ordering her around in her own home! But what he said suited her just fine, and it would be pointless to start another argument with him. She nodded, biting back her annoyance. "Yeah, okay. Just don't break anything." the meister shuffled through the hallway and into her room, closing the door behind her. She flopped down onto her bed, making Blair, who was curled up on the edge of it, jump a little.

The cat padded over and prodded the girl's head with one paw. "Aw, what's wrong, Maka-chan?"

"The damn kishin, that's what..."

The purple feline twitched her ears thoughtfully and curled up next to her head. "Meow. We'll get used to him eventually."

"I'm not so sure..."

Blair gazed up at the wall, feeling a little down. Her eye caught Maka's calendar, which had several circled and crossed-out dates. One of the circled dates was tomorrow, labeled 'Team Resonance Exam Today!' In an effort to change the subject, Blair decided to bring it up. "Hey, Maka-chan. Tomorrow is that team resonance thingie, right?"

The straight-A student bolted up. "That's right! I completely forgot!"

The cat frowned, not understanding. Did that mean she forgot to study? But how did one study for soul resonance? "Meow?"

Maka looked down at Blair like it was obvious. "What am I going to do with Asura here? I can't leave him here and I can't take him with us!"

"You could...not go."

"Are you serious? I already failed the most important thing of my life. I'm not going to miss school. Education is much easier than beating an insane kishin, so I can't call myself decent if I fail at both!"

The cat brought a paw up to her mouth as she yawned. "Then go."

"But what about Asura?"

"Take him with you."

"He's not some pet I take to show-and-tell! What if he chooses not to come?"

Blair began to think that the conversation was going in a circle. "Then leave him."

"No, Shinigami-sama told us to keep a very close eye on him."

The cat stuck her tongue out in annoyance and leaped off the bed, trotting toward the door. "Pumpkin, pumpkin." she used her cat-magic to open the door. "We'll take care of it in the morn-EEEEEKK!" the cat jumped six feet in the air in terror and darted under the bed, hissing. Standing behind the door as it swung open was the kishin. His three red eyes widened in surprise, like he hadn't expected to be discovered. Maka instinctively pulled a pillow out in front of her chest, her face contorting in anger. "What the hell!? Were you eavesdropping?"

Asura made several nervous shifts, but he recovered himself. "Apparently."

"Why!?"

"There isn't much else to do, and I kept hearing your voice through the walls. I thought I might...listen."

"That's creepy."

"Not from my perspective."

The kishin turned to walk back into the living room, but Maka wasn't going to let the creep get away that easily. "Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going!?"

He ignored her, disappearing around the corner within seconds. The scythe meister, being a very proud and stubborn girl, thought it was wise to follow, not taking no for an answer. Blair gave her a warning hiss, but the girl was too upset to listen. She grabbed one of Asura's scarves as she stomped through the hallway. "I said _hey_! You can't ignore me!" She yanked the scarf, hard. The kishin's head jerked back a little, and he whipped his head around, managing a fierce glare. However, as dense as Maka was, even she could make out the tiniest glimmer of amusement in his red eyes. _Did I see that right? _

"Let go of me." he snapped. Despite his harsh tone, Asura didn't seem all that upset. His scarves were calmly still, when they should have been thrashing in the air, like she had seen them do so many times before. His wavelengths also should have been pulsing with the added stress and anger, but they were quiet. He _wasn't_ angry at all.

She was so caught off guard that she actually let him go, her anger fading away. _What in the world is going through that insane mind of his? __Is he just messing with me? _

Asura blinked thoughtfully."You're a very unusual human."

The scythe meister looked up at the kishin with wide eyes. "...what?"

He turned his head away. "You're different."

"Different from everyone else?"

"No. Different from me."


	5. Morning Awkward

Wow, fifth chapter already? Seems like I started this thing only yesterday...

Eh. The further this story goes, the harder it is to write. I mean, I want the characters to do what I want them to, but at the same time, I want them to stay true to their actual characters. So I met halfway. A little OOC, a little...IC. (in character) Or at least I think its halfway. It might be a little too OOC, but I'll let you guys decide that :D

Disclaimer: *looks around* Nope, no Soul Eater ownership here.

Asura didn't say another word after that. Maka retreated back to her room, laying awake at midnight, thinking about it. Blair was curled up on the edge of the bed again, asleep. The neighborhood outside was quiet.

_What did he mean, different from him? Of course I'm different. I'm not a coward, or insane. So why would he point out something so obvious? _

She turned to the side so she could gaze out of her window. _Is this his way of getting back at me for what happened during the battle? Or is this some game he's playing to mess with me? _

Sitting up, the scythe meister pulled her pillow out in front of her and buried her head in it. _Why? Why does this have to happen right after the battle? The fact that he's staying here now only reminds me of my failure..._

Before she could start another pity party, she sighed, regaining herself. "Depression isn't my style..." she muttered into the pillow. The last time she became depressed led to a mishap with her Team Resonance lessons, where Black Star and Kid were unable to connect to her because she had become too upset to focus. She did _not _need another accident weighing on her because she couldn't handle herself. _I'm not letting that kishin get to me anymore. If he thinks he can throw me off just because he's living with us, he's dead wrong. _

She lifted her head up, feeling confident and resilient. Both feelings diminished when she looked out into the shadows of her room, her own emerald eyes making out the faintly glowing shape of three crimson red ones. Before she could even react, darkness passed over the eyes like a wing of black, and the shapes were gone. She reached for the lamp on the nightstand next to her, but she knew from reading countless horror and mystery books that even if she did turn on the lights, nothing would be there. Of course, the ghost or phantom was always there once the lights were turned back on. She tried not to think about that. _That's what I get for staying up past my bedtime. I should get some sleep before I start thinking that a jacket is a monster's shadow or something. _

"Nyaa! Maka-chan, wake up, you're going to be late for school!"

A purple, furry mass pounced on Maka's face. The scythe meister's eyes fluttered open, seeing nothing but Blair's underbelly. "Mnh...Blair...move..." she picked up the magical cat with both hands and placed her on the sheets next to her. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeves. _The one day at school that I'm _not _looking forward to..._

But she forced herself to get up and get dressed anyway, despite the thoughts weighing heavily on her mind. She was so distracted that she almost tried to brush her teeth with a tube of liquid soap, accidentally put on her shirt inside-out _and _backwards, put on her shoes on the wrong feet, and tried to brush her hair with a headband. By the time she was finished, she felt like a wreck, having to do almost everything multiple times to get it right. She found herself irritated and impatient by the time she felt ready enough to leave her room. Like a dragon emerging out of its lair, Maka slammed the door open, lowering the temperature of the living room and kitchen by twenty degrees. Soul watched her stomp into the kitchen while flipping a pancake, which landed on his face when he forgot to catch it.

Maka pulled out a chair from the table and flopped herself down on it, rubbing her temples. "Where's Asura?"

Her weapon used his spatula to gesture to the living room, then scooped up the pancake and tossed it back in the pan.

She looked over at the couch; the kishin was laying across it, far to tall to fit. His long legs dangled over the edge, and one arm lay across the floor, the other folded on top of his chest. His head was titled up toward the ceiling, all three eyes closed. "Is he awake?" she asked.

"No."

_Might as well go take care of that. _She huffed and walked across the carpet, wishing more than anything to slap the kishin awake with her thickest book after all he's done. She settled for hitting him over the head with a couch pillow. Asura jolted awake with a startled grunt. "Get up; it's time for school."

Asura didn't take kindly to being woken up by a slap to the face from a pillow. He narrowed his eyes. "What makes you think I'm going with you?"

_Here we go again. _"Because Shinigami-sama said we have to watch you. That means that you're coming with us."

"You should have thought of that _before _hitting me with a pillow."

"Too bad, get up."

He sat up, folding his arms and legs defiantly. He leaned back against the cushions, a devious smirk stretching across his face. "No."

In the kitchen, Soul watched the very childish stare-down with a sigh.

Maka gripped the pillow with a clenched fist. "_Now_." she ordered.

"No."

"I'll drag you there if I have to."

"You can try."

_Challenge accepted_. She grabbed one of Asura's arms and tried to tug the kishin away. He didn't budge, only smiled wider at her attempts. She pulled and pulled, digging her heels into the carpet for better grip. It didn't help. "You're so...heavy!

"It's not my fault you can't do anything with those twigs you call arms."

"Shut up and just _move_!"

Soul intervened by placing a hand on the meister's shoulder. "That's enough Maka. Let's just eat breakfast and go. Forget him."

Reluctantly, Maka gave up trying to pull at Asura and followed her partner back into the kitchen, munching on her pancakes with a glare. He smiled right back, making her even more agitated. _Stupid kishin, getting in my head and making me angry. _

The albino scythe pulled up a chair next to her. "Does he eat anything?"

"Other than human souls? Probably not. Who cares? Just let him starve and maybe he'll die."

Soul rolled his eyes. "If only it were that easy." he looked up at Asura, who was observing the pair eat with curious eyes. "Don't you have something better to do than stare at us?"

"Hm? You eat in front of your guest without asking them to join you, _then _you insult them for looking? How rude."

"Do you want to eat or not?"

"Who said I was hungry?"

Soul let out an exasperated 'UGH' and left the table, muttering under his breath. Maka glared back at Asura. "What's your problem?"

He waved one hand in the air. "I don't appreciate rudeness, that's all."

"You sure are rude yourself."

"I see how you humans could get that confused." he folded one leg over the other like a woman would. "I'm merely... constructively criticizing."

"Like that's any better." she finished the rest of the food on her plate and got up, not looking at Asura as she went back to her room to get her notebook on Soul Resonance for the exam to study. Soul had secluded himself in his room, and she assumed that he was filling his clothes with sheet sheets like before, but she then realized that one couldn't cheat at resonating. When she came back out into the living room, she found Asura poking around in one of her book shelves, opening and looking through books.

"Stop touching my things." she said as she walked past. Without turning, the kishin's quick fingers pulled her notebook out from under her arm in less than a second. He flipped it open. "What's this?"

She whipped around and reached for it, though he held out one hand to keep her away. "Give it back! It's my notes for class!"

He skimmed through the pages. "Hm. 'Soul Resonance Mechanics: How The Soul Reacts and is Affected By External and Internal Wavelengths.' Fascinating."

The scythe meister moved Asura's arm away and clawed at the air to get it back. "Give it!"

He held it up higher, letting his scarves hold it out of reach, but open enough to let him read it. "'Part 1 – The unstable wavelengths of madness are known to have a substantial effect on the resonance rate of meisters and weapons, especially in the event of -"

Before the kishin could continue, Maka had pulled out a very different book from the shelf, weilding it over her head like a hammer. "MAKA CHOP!"

She struck Asura's head with the book (ironically, a book on child psychology), forcing him to drop the notebook. She caught it with one hand and held it defensively behind her back. The kishin didn't seem too badly hurt, only slightly annoyed. He looked up at her as if he had been flicked in the face. "What was that for?"

"I told you to give it back. You didn't."

He rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "That's no reason to hit someone..."

"Whatever." she cut the conversation short when Soul had come back out of his room, giving her the 'let's go' look. The pair of students gathered near the door. The scythe meister turned back to the kishin, who was still standing in front of the bookshelf, looking after them. "Well? Are you coming or what?"

"...yes."


	6. Deadly Notes

I guess I'm not that slow of an updater...a few days is a lot to me, especially when you spend said days sitting behind a blank Microsoft Word page listening to the same song on repeat. Usually, when I update a new chapter, I already have either the beginning or a part of the next one done. In this chapter's case, not so much. I tried to write so many outcomes of this chapter, and ended up scrapping them all. Planning really isn't my thing, is it?

Nope. But imma do it anyway, whether or not my perfectionist subconscious says it's good or not. On another note, I tend to change perspectives as the chapters go on, (usually between Maka and Asura). You can tell who's it is usually from the first paragraph or such. This one is from Asura's perspective fyi.

Lol I based Asura's antisocial thought process off my own

Last thing I swear. SORRY ITS SO SHORT

Disclaimer: I still don't own Soul Eater (but I'd be glad to :P)

_They're staring at me..._Asura thought uncomfortably, gazing around at the hallway full of Shibusen students who were gawking at the passing kishin. The scythe meister and her weapon walked a few feet in front of him, chatting about their test that day, ignoring him to his annoyance. Personally, he would have rather stayed home and slept all day (since the final battle took much more out of him than he'd care to admit), but the meister wasn't going to take no for an answer, and she would have bothered him so much that he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. But since the other students stared at him like unblinking owls, he was beginning to regret his decision. It took all his control to not blast them with Vajra like he did most people. He only kept his gaze lowered at the tile floor, counting the black and white tiles mentally to distract himself.

The classroom, 'Crescent Moon' as Asura read it, wasn't much better. He was quite aware of humans' annoying habit to look at someone when they enter a room, but watching all the heads swivel simultaneously was enough to make his black blood boil. However, he felt a little better when most of the students visibly tensed, reaching out toward their weapon partners as if expecting an attack. _It feels nice to be feared, _he thought with a smirk. The professor rolled up to the three on a patchwork chair. He didn't seem to shocked at the kishin's presence. Asura suspected that Shinigami had spread the word to all his inner circle.

"Ah, Maka, Soul. Good to have you joining us today under these...circumstances." he finished, with a glance at the kishin. Maka laughed nervously. "Y-yeah. I wouldn't miss a test day to save my life."

Her partner snickered in agreement, and Asura learned a bit more about the tiny scythe meister who preached courage. _Bookworm. _

The older meister gestured to the class. "We were just about to start. Go ahead and take your seats."

Stein went back to lecturing the class on resonance (nothing he didn't know already from observation), while Maka led her partner and the kishin up the tiered classroom. They filed in the second to first row, near the middle. Being a bit more paranoid than usual, Asura's mind had already calculated the outcome of the new seating arrangement he was forced into:

1) – In the row he was being led into, there were only two more seats left

2) – Said seats were only going to accommodate Maka and Soul

3) – If he didn't find a seat near them, he'd have to relocate to another seat with the entire owl-eyed class watching him

Just as panic began to rise up inside him, one of the students adjacent to the pair looked up at the kishin with narrowed eyes. "There's no more seats in this row, kishin." he said snidely.

_We'll see about that. _Asura unsheathed Vajra from inside his throat, letting the ritual blade glow faintly, giving the impression of an oncoming blast. "You have three seconds to fix that."

The kid paled, his leer all but gone as he ungracefully scrambled past the other students to find another seat. Asura replaced him, leaning back against the desk behind him, grinning arrogantly. _Now who says violence doesn't solve problems?_

The students who had paused to watch quickly averted their gazes, afraid that he might target them too. And he just might if they looked at him one more time. The professor coughed and continued his lecture. "...as I was saying, resonance can be affected by both internal and external wavelengths."

Asura remembered that Maka had written down notes under a similar title. He looked over. Sure enough, the meister had her notebook open to the same page, copying down facts from the chalkboard. He was about to look away, when a small side not caught his eye. Titled 'The Effects of Madness: If Resonance can be achieved in harmony with insanity'. There were several blank bullet points under the title, like she couldn't add onto the thought. _Perhaps this is why she didn't want me poking around inside it... _

"As you all know, resonance is an exclusive bond between a meister and weapon, that is relatively stable even under stress. However, resonance rate can be affected by other forces such as depression, anger, and insanity."

Maka perked up, and her pencil immediately shot to the first blank bullet point of the notes on madness effects. _Someone's curious about madness. _As soon as he though it, a dread realization struck him. _If she could find a way to resonate inside madness, she could easily use that to kill me! _


	7. Sabotage

Seventh chapter already? Damn, time flies. The story really wasn't supposed to be in so many chapters, but they take less time to write so I can update more quickly. I know I said that the owner of that fox from the first chapter was going to appear soon...but now it seems more like chapters 9 or 10. BUT I'LL GET THERE EVENTUALLY

I'm kinda uncomfortable in introducing this character, since its an OC and I'm one of those hypocrites who hate OCs but have oodles of them myself, and also because she ends up being the character that I use to move the plot along...

On a somewhat related note, I have begun to use some aspects of both the manga and anime in this thing...I've decided that this takes place in the anime world so they wouldn't know about Madness Resonance. Hopefully. (I don't realize this crap until after I update)

I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE RESONANCE EXAM

Disclaimer: Don't own Soul Eater

Maka's pencil hovered over the notes, waiting for something she could write down. She needed to take as many notes on madness as possible, just in case the skinny freak kishin decided to rampage. _I don't want to have to fail twice on the same thing...this time I'm not taking any chances. _

"Insanity wavelengths have the greatest effect on a soul's wavelengths. They are unstable, and tend to disrupt the frequencies of those around it. This makes it extremely difficult – if not impossible – to resonate. Only a very strong soul or an anti-insanity wavelength can counteract the effects on insanity."

The scythe meister quickly paraphrased and jotted down the key points. Maka knew that she already possessed the anti-insanity wavelengths, but it only really served to protect her from going insane. She needed to find a way to resonate in madness if she was going to be fully prepared for an assault from the kishin. She glanced over at him cautiously, making sure that the kishin wasn't reading her notes that could be deadly to him. He sat only a few feet away to her left, but she knew that he had a thing for paranoia and curiosity. Asura was leaning against the back of the desk behind him, tossing a pencil in between two scarves in boredom. He didn't _look _like he was watching her, but she knew better. His third eye was faced toward her, unblinking. (she didn't think that eye could move in the first place)

_He's watching me, so I should probably be more discreet. __Things could get complicated if he were to find out._

Part of her felt guilty for conspiring against someone, but she felt it was necessary when it came to the insane kishin. She used her elbow to cover up the view to her notes, turning her attention to the chalk board. Stein pointed to a flow chart of someone's soul wavelengths that descended into madness. "As you can see, madness is a virulent wavelength that works quickly to disable a person's reflexive and responsive actions." he pointed to the second box that was connected by an arrow labeled 'Stage 2'. "At this point, the infected slowly begin to become disoriented, and may loose sight of their persona. They may forget who they are, what they were doing, and which side they are fighting on. If someone were to become mad in the middle of a war, you can see how dangerous it would be if someone were to turn on their own side."

The blonde meister kept a steady pace of copying down the professor's lecture, hoping that she'd have enough information before Stein began the exams. He pointed to the third box, 'Stage 3'.

"However, madness is still a wavelength, and is still subjected to the Laws of Resonance. Namely, all wavelengths, whether they are stable or not, can be harmonized in resonance, and can be counter-affected, distorted, amplified, or diminished."  
Maka hastily began to write down the best pieces of information she'd learned so far, when her mechanical pencil slipped from her grip. It fell to the floor with a light _click_. In case the kishin tried to look inside, she closed the cover of her notebook, leaning over to the floor to pick up her pencil. To her surprise, she couldn't see it anywhere. It wasn't under her feet or Soul's or-

_Asura. _

She glared over at the kishin, who was staring off into space, lost in thought. He didn't look like he had moved to snatch it away, but one of his four scarves might have. Three were in sight, twitching around in the air. The fourth was laying flat against the floor, coiling and uncoiling under the desk. The three finger-like tips were enclosed around something. Something that was long and thin.

"Give me back my pencil, Asura!" she whispered harshly. He looked down at her innocently. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know you took it! Give it back!"

The fourth scarf rose up from the floor and dropped her pencil into his hand. The kishin smirked, holding it up with two fingers. "Oh, you mean _this _pencil?"

"Yes, that pencil!" she swiped for it, but he held it away.

"Finder's keepers." he growled.

She held up the same book that came from thin air. "Don't make me Maka Chop you again." she threatened.

The kishin looked as if he was about to retort, but he paused. "...You want it?"

She frowned, confused at his shift in attitude. "Uh, yeah."

"Then go _get it_!" as he finished, he tossed the pencil across the room, where it smacked against the opposite wall. Maka huffed in exasperation and stormed out of her seat, stomping across the room for her pencil. She didn't notice that Asura quickly reopened Maka's notebook and began to change notes with the pencil he 'found'. He changed the title of one of the bullet points from 'Madness is included in Laws of Resonance' to 'Madness is excluded in Laws of Resonance', and one of the sentences from 'Madness can be counter-effected, distorted, amplified, or diminished' to 'Madness can only be counter-effected, distorted, amplified or diminished under the influence of insanity'.

The changes might have seemed small or insignificant to anyone else, but to someone as nerdy as Maka, the changes would make all the difference. To Asura, that is. By changing the bullet's title, he ensured that Maka would treat madness wavelengths differently than regular ones, also leading her to forget the fact that madness can be influenced like any other wavelength. The 'influence of insanity' would force Maka to work with her anti-insanity wavelength and black blood in an attempt to 'bond' with madness, which would actually have the reverse effect. When black blood meets anti-insanity wavelengths, they cancel each other out, leaving only madness. And madness meant that Asura would have complete control over the scythe meister. It was flawless.

When Maka returned to her seat, she was glaring holes in Asura. She pulled her journal toward her, clicking the lead on her mechanical pencil angrily. "You're a jerk." she muttered.

"You have _no _idea..."


	8. Team Resonance Exams: Part 1

LOL I LIED XD

I was hoping to be further along in the story by now, but I thought of this happening juuust before the exams, so this'll be a 'in-between' chapter, kay kay?

A little personal info tidbit here...I'm ADHD, so I may not pick up errors in spelling, grammar or even plot. I tend to repeat words or phrases (and apparently, my fifth grade math teacher said I once wrote an entire sentence backwards), so if you see that junk please disregard...unless you're a grammar Nazi. I too am one, but it's flawed since half the time I can't pick up my own mistakes XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater

After another half-hour of watching Maka madly scribble down notes, Asura was relieved when the professor announced the end of the lecture, and began to call teams out for their exams. The scythe meister put down her pencil relucantly and brought the journal up to her face, scanning over her notes. She frowned about halfway through. Asura couldn't resist a smirk. _Something wrong, Maka? _Thanks to his note-changing trick, he bought himself a piece of mind. Maka was so focused on writing down more notes, that she didn't realize that some of them were different than what she wrote down. He mentally pat himself on the back. _Nicely done. _

He leaned back in his seat to observe his handiwork as Maka continued to flip through her notes, becoming more visibly confused. She turned back to the first page, which was were most of his changes were. She muttered, "...what?", then turned to her weapon partner, who was fast asleep on his desk. She reached out to prod him in the shoulder, but drew back, biting her lip. She hesitated, looking in between her notes and Soul.

The kishin just watched her internal struggle, proud. _It's kind of cute, _he thought, _to watch a bookworm argue with a piece of paper. _

Suddenly, Maka glared back at him, her eyes green fire. "What!?"

He was caught off guard. "W-what?" he could have slapped himself, repeating the same thing she asked him.

"Why the hell are you staring at me?"

His rapidly beating heart calmed. _So she doesn't know that I changed her notes...that's a relief... _"You seem to be having a problem." just because he just recovered from a near panic attack didn't mean he could toy around with her a bit.

She looked back to her notes. "I-I don't know...I just..." she slapped her notebook closed. "It's none of your business anyway!"

"Touchy."

Asura looked around; two of the teams were outside with the professor, and the third team had left the classroom to loiter somewhere. The young Shinigami and the ninja had both left the classroom before the first teams were called. Only Maka and Soul were present. _Now is a better time than any._

With no one else to witness, one of his scarves reached up from behind Maka and snatched the notebook from her hands with a quick flick. _I need to see what else she wrote. _Maka, however, was not going to give up her territory so easily. She pawed at the air for it. "Dammit, give it back!"

_Sorry for my childish behavior, but this is for _my _own protection. _"I just want a peek."

He held the notebook with one hand, using the other to keep the clawing girl away from him. After the first page, was an entire paragraph on normal soul wavelengths. The next was purely on madness wavelengths. The third – which frightened him the most – was a paragraph on how they connected and could be resonated in the same way. _Damn... she's farther than I thought. I need to fix this. _

The scythe meister squealed and literally pounced on Asura, making him grunt in surprise. She barreled over him, writhing on the bench as she madly tried to take her journal back. "Hand it over!" she yelled. Asura held the journal up with one scarf, blocking the meister's flailing arms back with his own. "Get off me!" Asura growled, feeling a bit silly wrestling with the girl. He could have easily overpowered her, but that would mean giving up the journal. _Not until I read it. And I have a feeling that after this, she's not going to leave it anywhere alone. _He was glad that no one was watching their tussle, and the only other student was still asleep by some miracle.

Maka dug her palm into Asura's face as she reached up for it with her other hand. "Stop acting like a two-year-old and just give it back!"

He glared up at her through the girls' sprawled fingers. "You're the one who tackled me!" he retorted. She silenced him up by forming the hand in his face into a fist. "Shut it before I put my shoe in your mouth!" she planted her foot on his chest and stood up, reaching for the notebook. Her fingers barely brushed it before Asura pulled her legs out from under her, making her stumble back against the desks. He stood up, standing in the stairway of the tiered classroom, waving the notebook in the air triumphantly. "Gotta do better than that."

Her response was to direct the most fire-breathing, paralyzing glare Asura had ever seen, before charging at him like a bull.

"Uh oh." was all he had time to say before she crashed into him, sending the two rolling down the steps and onto the tile floor in the front of the classroom. The impact left Asura dizzy (he was seriously ashamed at his weakened condition), and Maka winded. It took them both a whole minute to realize that Asura had landed on top, and was pressed against the small girl in the most 'this-isn't-what-it-looks-like' position. His hands were planted on the tile, keeping him up, and his legs were spread apart over body, almost sitting on top of her. His scarves froze, and Asura's face turned almost as red as his eyes. Maka looked up at him slowly, the gears turning her head as she processed the position they were in. "Um...uh..." she stammered, her hands grasping his shoulders embarassingly. "Y-you can move now..." she whispered.

Asura blinked slowly, every thought leaving his mind as he tried to get a single thought across. _W-what the hell is wrong with me? I...I can't..._he stared intently into Maka's eyes, wondering why he was unable to tear his gaze away. The entire situation left him shocked in more ways than one, but it frightened him to realize that he couldn't stop staring at those emerald green eyes. She seemed just as surprised, maybe even a little...curious? _T-this girl... _ He managed to give himself a mental slap-in-the-face, and he backed off of the blushing girl, covering his own face with his scarves defensively. He slid the journal across the floor to her, bowing his head low. "H-here...just take it..."

She sat up, picking up the notebook with shaking hands, though she kept her eyes on him. "...?"

Asura crawled backwards on all fours, inching toward the door. "I...I need to go."

Without waiting for a response, Asura straightened up bolted out of the classroom, leaving Maka sitting on the floor, dumbfounded. "...what?"


	9. Team Resonance Exams: Part 2

OKAAAY So this is finally it. The real-deal. Finally. I was actually going to have the previous chapter be after the exams, but considering what happens during the exam (sorry, no spoilers), it makes more sense to have all THAT happen before :3

I don't re-read anything I write because if I do, I end up thinking its crap and I delete it. On the downside, I don't catch most mistakes in spelling or grammar. So if you find one, please reread this little paragraph and know that its for the story's sake.

Disclaimer: Don't own Soul Eater

* * *

To anyone else, coming into an empty classroom to see a young girl sitting on the floor hugging her journal would be a pretty concerning sight. But since everyone was too worried talking about their exams, they passed by the young meister without sparing her a glance. Professor Stein was the last person to enter, rolling in on his patchwork chair. He pulled up next to the young meister. "Maka? Is something wrong?"

His deep voice startled Maka, and she blinked and looked up at him. "Uh no, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"Just checking. You're up, by the way. Kid and Black Star are already waiting."

"Oh, okay." she stood up, straightening out her skirt. "I'll go and wake Soul."

She walked over to her partner's desk and shook him. "Hey, Soul. Wake up, we're next."

The albino scythe blinked groggily. "Ugh...wha?"

"Get up."

"Alright, alright..." he yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked around. "Where's the kishin?"

At the mention of Asura, the images from a few moments ago flashed through her mind, and she had to turn away to hide the faint blush that began to appear. "He had to go somewhere."

Soul frowned. "You didn't stop him? Aren't we supposed to be keeping a close watch on him?"

"Damn it, you're right! I shouldn't have let him go off on his own!" she hit her forehead with one fist. _I hope that he's too weirded out to do anything bad..._

He shrugged and stood up, stretching. "Ah, I'm sure it'll be fine. Coward like him, he's probably at home already cowering in some corner."

"Don't be mean. Anyway, let's go and get this test over with."

"Mn-hm."

* * *

"So how do you think Maka's handling the kishin?"

Black Star curled up his body in a sit up, keeping his legs grasping the tree branch he hung on to, his arms folded behind his head. Under him, reading a small pocket book, Kid leaned up against the same tree, his two weapons drawing pictures in the dirt with sticks. "While I'd happily assure you that our overachieving straight-A friend is doing well, the kishin is much more a burden than anything we've ever encountered. I wouldn't be surprised if she's having a little trouble."

Black Star's weapon partner, Tsubaki, looked back at the courtyard double doors nervously. "I heard that she brought him to school today...I hope he doesn't come out here with us. The madness he emits may effect our concentration."

Black Star counted to twenty more sit ups before speaking. "If that happens, we can just ask the professor to make him leave."

Kid nodded agreement. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. The kishin isn't someone you want to leave alone."

The doors into the courtyard flew open, and a pair of students came rushing out, followed by their professor. As the blonde meister and her albino partner joined the group, Black Star jumped down from the tree and landed squarely on his feet. "Yo, Maka, Soul. You're late again."

Maka avoided his gaze. "Bad habit."

Soul high-fived Black Star in some strange greeting ritual. "It doesn't really matter now, since we're gonna ace this test."

Stein left his rolling chair at the door and caught up. "Now that we're all here, let's begin."

Liz and Patti abandoned their sand drawing of a cat with wings and joined their meister in weapon forms. Tsubaki in her Chain Scythe mode was held by Black Star, still sweaty from his sit ups. Maka grasped Soul's newly transformed handle, but her fingers caught and the scythe fell. As she leaned down to pick it up with an embarrassed blush, Stein's eyes narrowed under his glasses. _That's od__d,__ Maka never drops her weapon. Test anxiety, maybe? _

After she recovered, the group formed a triangle in the middle of the clearing, just like they'd practiced. All looked tense.

"Remember: this isn't anything new, so there's no need to be nervous...right, Maka?"

The meister looked back at her professor with surprise. "Uh...yeah."

"Then you can start."

Maka, still looking a bit daunted from being called out so obviously, turned to the rest of her team. "Ready?"

Kid nodded, holding up his twin pistols confidently. "Whenever you are."

Black Star grinned. "I was _born _ready."

"Then let's do this."

The scythe meister closed her eyes, focusing on her soul wavelengths. She expanded them so that she could connect to Kid's wavelengths. "Kid..."

At her call, the Shinigami allowed his soul to be tapped into, the connection reaching out to her. But as the two wavelengths were about to join, they broke apart with a shock wave that made all three stumble. "W-what the hell?" Maka looked at the Shinigami with confusion. "Why didn't it work?"

"Don't worry about it, Maka. It's been a while. Let's try it again."

She frowned disbelievingly but re-focused her wavelengths. Once again, their souls reached out to connect, but once again they broke apart. "It's no use!"

"Come on, Maka. What's the holdup?" Black Star said impatiently.

She glared at him. "I don't know! If I knew, this wouldn't be happening!"

Watching the group silently, Stein began to twist his screw in fascination. _This goes beyond simple test anxiety, _he thought, listening to the two meisters argue with raised voices, not unlike they had done the first time they Team Resonated. _Something's happened with her...something that might have to do with a certain kishin. _

"Well, it's definitely not me!" Black Star protested. "We took care of that crap last time!"

"Nor I." Kid added. "Something's up with you, Maka. What's the matter?"

Maka rounded on the Shinigami. "Why the hell do you think it's me!?"

"You've been acting different since the battle, even more so when the kishin showed up."

"Don't bring him into this!" she yelled. "I've just been a little depressed since the fight, that's all!"

"Depression doesn't affect resonance, Maka." Kid whispered. "Tell us the truth."

With all eyes on her, the scythe meister felt her blood start to roar in her ears. Her heart beat quickened, and her face started to burn with anger. She clenched her fists. "You're all so _horrible_! I can't believe you don't trust your own friend!"

With her shout left to echo through the courtyard, the meister threw down her scythe (it clanked to the ground, and Soul muttered, "Ow.") and stormed off through the doors, making sure to slam them shut behind her.

Professor Stein pushed up his glasses, the sun's reflection glaring off the glass. Without a word, the professor followed the scythe meister, leaving the rest of the team gawking at each other. He wasn't surprised when he found the double doors blocked. "Maka. I want to speak with you."

"I don't want to talk."

"Your wavelengths say otherwise."

"W-well stop looking at my soul, it's creepy!" Despite her protest, the meister allowed the doors to be opened, but she folded her arms nervously behind her back. Stein stepped inside, twisting the screw in his head. "Tell me what's on your mind."

A faint blush reappeared on her face. "Uh...It's really no big deal..."

"It is if you can't resonate because of it."

"It's not just the kishin." she blurted.

The professor gave a flicker of a smile. "So _that's _why you're so riled up. What did he do?"

"N-nothing, it's more like what I-" she stopped herself from spewing out every awkward thing that happened back at the classroom, especially when she caused it. "Like I said, it's nothing..."

He put a hand on her shoulder. It would have been much more comforting if her teacher wasn't prone to dissecting everything that moved.

"Listen, Maka. I know it's been difficult for you recently, with the battle and having to deal with the kishin. But since Shinigami-sama is occupied and your 'situation' with your father, you can tell me what's troubling you."

She took a deep breath. "I uh...don't want to say _exactly _what happened, but let's just say that things between me and Asura have gotten pretty awkward."

"Awkward how?"

"Uh..." she looked around nervously, as if expecting the skinny kishin to be nearby, listening. She leaned in closer. "I've been trying to do extra research on madness to see if I can find a way to use it to defeat Asura if he rampages again."

"Okay..."

"And I've been recording it in several journals. A while ago, when everyone was gone, I started to look over the notes I had. He seemed to know what I was doing, so he took my journal. I freaked out, so I uh...jumped on him to make him give it back to me."

Stein couldn't hide an amused smirk. "You...jumped on him?"

She blushed. "I was angry and in the moment. Anyway, its not important. What's the important part was that we...uh..." she looked up, trying to find the best way to word the situation without it sounding as weird as it really was. "We...uh..."

Stein gestured with his hand to help her continue.

She gulped, wanting nothing more than to morph into the wall and become invisible. But with the professor's ominous eyes staring expectantly down at her, she felt like a trapped animal. "Um...to be perfectly honest, I'm not really sure _what _happened...I just looked up at him and then we kinda...stared at each other. For a while."

Saying it almost felt as awkward as experiencing it, but she felt better that she told someone that wouldn't make a huge deal about it. And she felt even better when Stein simply nodded in response. "I see. Sounds like a scene from a movie if you ask me."

Despite her racing heart and stinging nerves, Maka laughed. "I guess you can call it that."

"Interesting. How did you feel?"

"Honestly? Not so sure. I just remember feeling...embarrassed. Embarrassed and confused."

"Why confused?"

"Because I don't understand the whole situation. We're worst enemies, and so something as weird as that happening kinda freaked us both out."

Privately, Stein wanted to leap to the obvious conclusion that a stereotypical story might have had. But his scientist mentality prevented him from guessing without enough proof. He nodded slowly instead. "I understand. What happened to him afterward?"

"He got really weirded out and left. I was too shocked to stop him, so I have no idea where he is or what he's doing. I hope he's okay." she paused, realizing what she said. "I-I mean, I hope he's not out there hurting anyone."

The professor observed her wavelengths retract in embarrassment. _Curious. _"Tell you what, Maka. We'll postpone your exam until things are less hectic."

She snorted. "That'll be a while..."

He patted the meister on the head. "You should go find the kishin and get some rest. I'll tell Shinigami-sama that you'll be excused from classes."

"W-what?" As expected, the bookworm student protested. "I can't miss school!"

"It's the end of the year, Maka. No one is really focused on academics since the battle. And we're only doing reviews. You don't need another thing weighing you down."

"B-but that means that I'll be home all day! What am I supposed to do?"

"Whatever it is you kids do."

"But I have to look after Asura!"

"You'll be fine."

"But-"

"You'll be _fine._"

Maka bit her lip and forced herself to nod. "Okay, Professor. Whatever you say..." _Now I can't even go to school...that kishin takes one more thing out of my life __and __I'll kill him. _


	10. We Must Always Forgive

Wow, it's the tenth chapter already! *****a tear drop rolls down my cheek***** They grow up so fast! *sniff*

But seriously. I'm so happy I decided not to delete this, even though I betrayed myself and re-read it. But I figured that I'm ten chapters in, and I might as well keep going. I was thinking about starting other stories, but I'm afraid that I might forget to update this one if I do that. Or I might just loose interest. That happens a LOT.

Forget me and my flawed constitution. On a related note, the fact that this is the tenth chapter and still not much has happened proves that I am a slow writer. But ever since I read a story that basically crammed two years worth of content in like five paragraphs, I've been terrified of throwing too much information into my readers' faces. But, then again, the first chapter did go kinda fast. But I intended it to be like that. SO NO HARM DONE

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater

* * *

Not that he had much say in the matter, but Asura knew for certain that he blew his first day of school. He lied face-down on the couch ever since he ran out of the classroom, still trying to process what had happened. _I should have just given it back to her, then none of _that_ would have happened. But...I had to know. My life was on the line. _Trying to assure himself didn't work out much better. He felt like he was making excuses for his own behavior._ I need to rethink my life. _

He turned on his side, letting his right arm dangle over the edge and onto the floor. He studied his light blue skin tone that he hadn't lost since the battle, and the bandages that covered his body. _Such an ugly color, blue. It looks too much like the boring sky. Blue looks so much better when its covered in red. _

He resisted the temptation to let a little more madness into the city; he wasn't going to risk giving an excuse for Maka to attack him. He grinned. _Not like a twig like her could do anything to me. _But the memory of the young meister making notes on madness returned, and once again he felt the same prickling sensation of fear creeping up his spine. _Why can't she just leave it alone? Why can't she just leave _me _alone? _

He brought his hand up to his face. "As long as I am what I am, no one can ever forget about me..." _Perhaps if Maka sees that I am no longer a threat, she'll stop this conspiracy of hers. Yes. All I need to do is behave for a while, and let things play out the way I want them to. _Deep in his mind, his logic was screaming at him that it would never work, that he was wasting his time, and that he should kill everyone before they killed him. _To hell with logic, _he thought, frustrated. _I don't need such a thing. _

He sat up, his hair flipping over his eyes. He hated the way that it had grown longer in the past eight hundred years. The apartment was dark, since he had closed the curtains and turned off the lights. But it wasn't as dark as he preferred, since the curtains were thin and sunlight still filtered through. Small shadows of birds fluttered past. _Things are peaceful here. Too peaceful. _

He was about to stand up, having it in his mind to poke around the apartment for something to do, when the front door burst open loudly. The kishin flinched unconsciously, gripping the couch with all limbs. Maka stormed inside, slamming the door shut behind her. She glared over at Asura for a moment, blushed, then started to shuffle toward her room with her head hung. _That's a lot of emotion coming off one girl, _he thought, watching her walk past. _Should I say something? _

His instinct roared 'no', but he was beginning to question his first instinct. _I wanted to start making changes, so maybe this is a good time to start. _

One scarf reached out to stop her, but years of living solitary got the better of him. He let the meister go, his eyes closing when he heard Maka's door slam shut. _Way to keep your own promise._

Pathetic relief washed over him now that he denied himself social interaction. He wasn't good at it, and he preferred to live without it, but a small part of him felt guilty for not apologizing like he was supposed to. Then he felt confused about why he even _cared._ He then felt angry that he was feeling all of this within a few seconds. Which of course made him upset. Then...you get the picture.

He grabbed the nearest object to him – one of the couch pillows, and threw it across the room, where it smacked harmlessly on the fridge in the kitchen. He snatched up the next pillow and dug his fingers into it, pulling it apart with barely any effort. Feathers and stuffing flew everywhere, getting into Asura's hair and eyes. He clenched his teeth and pawed furiously at the invading feathers, looking very much like an angry cat. And speaking of cats, a small purple shape emerged into the living room, eyes going blank when she saw the kishin, God of Insanity and Madness, clawing at feathers furiously.

She made a face, wondering _What the heck is wrong with this guy? _

Gentle hands picked up the cat from behind, and the blonde scythe meister who had come out of her room to check on the kishin held Blair in her arms, frowning when she saw Asura's shower of feathers. "What the hell are you doing?"

The kishin froze, letting the rest of the pillow's insides fall to the ground. _Talk about wrong place, wrong time. _"Um...I can explain."

Maka put Blair back on the floor and walked over to pick up half of the torn pillow, holding it out in front of her accusingly. "Looks to me like you just tore a pillow in half."

"Well, yes, but– "

She cut him off by hitting him upside the head with it. "Bad kishin."

Despite the fact that Maka had just scolded him like a child and hit with half of a pillow, he couldn't suppress a smile.

"Those were expensive, you know! And if I don't get another one to match the one I already have, Kid will go berserk the next time he comes over and lecture me on symmetry for the next century!"

She hit him again, just for good measure.

"I'm sorry." he apologized.

She suddenly felt as if she had somehow hurt him, non-physically. "No, it's okay. There's a furniture place down the street that sells them for half-price anyway."

He shook his head. "Not that. I mean I'm sorry for what I did in the classroom. I was being childish and I shouldn't have taken it in the first place. I'm...sorry."

She gave him a look that seemed as awkward as he felt. It was the first time he'd apologized for anything, and the first time Maka had heard him being remorseful. He wasn't sure that he was completely sorry, but he felt like she needed to know that he _did _have some sense of right and wrong. Whether he chose to follow it was a different story.

She blinked. "Oh. Like I said, it's okay...and, I'm sorry I uh...jumped on you."

His face reddened a bit when she mentioned it, and he tried to cover it by moving his hair over his face. "I-It's alright."

The meister thought for a bit, then turned to head back into her bedroom. While she was gone, Asura tried to rub the blush off his face, but then realized how stupid he looked and stopped. Blair the cat was still in the living room, now balanced on top of the bookshelf. They met eyes and Blair smiled widely. "You like her." she purred, saying it as a gossipy first-grader would.

He turned away. "As if."

Blair didn't buy it. "Aw, come on. I know a crush when I see one."

"Just because humans fall over each other to mate doesn't make _you _an expert."

"Denial."

"What?"

"The more you deny it, the more true it is!"

He almost threw his hands up in exasperation. _So if I don't deny it, it's true, but if I do deny it, it's also true? Isn't there _any _aspect of society where I can win? _

"I'm not denying it. I'm saying that there is nothing to deny."

"Denial."

"It is _not!_"

"Denial."

"_I will murder you if you say 'denial' one more time!_"

"Why don't you just admit that you like her?"

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you do. Think about it. She's smart, and pretty. And she seems to be all over you." she winked, as if she knew what had happened in the classroom. Asura pulled one scarf over his face. "_Don't look at me! _It was an _accident_!"

The cat burst out laughing, almost rolling off the top of the bookshelf. "Denial! Denial!"

Asura was about three seconds from blasting her away with Vajra, when Maka came back into the living room. She saw Blair killing herself laughing, and Asura looking like he was suffocating himself with his scarf. "...I don't want to know."

She walked over and sat down on the edge of the couch, next to Asura. She carried a notebook; the same notebook that Asura had tried to take from her twice. "Listen, Asura. If...if it makes you feel better, you can look at it."

Asura peeked out from behind the scarf. "...really?"

She held it out to him. "Y-yes. I mean, I'd prefer not to, but since you seem to be interested, here."

He reached out for it, but drew back. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I want to be surprised when you kill me."


	11. Opposites Attract

I like this chapter because 11 is my favorite number.

I haven't be updating much since I don't have internet at home and I've had to go to my college library every time I want to do something (woe is me). It's worse since the library isn't open in the summer D:

But I will continue this thing even if it KILLS me. Which it just might. Luckily, my mom's taking summer courses at her college, so I tag along just for the interwebs. And for the lectures on air pressure and the stratosphere. Quite fascinating. Just sitting in that class, I learned how to make 3-D pictures just using a regular camera and an online website. Even got a free pair of 3-D glasses. AW YEAH

I feel like I should have mentioned this sooner, but I sometimes go back and change certain things that I don't like, so if you see something that wasn't there before or that's different, you're not crazy. But I will put something back if asked. Usually the changes aren't major, so you readers don't really need to worry about it. (I'm probably the only one who worries about this crap anyway)

One last thing. If I wrote a biography, it would be titled 'The Chronicles of a Procrastinating Girl: The Years in Which Absolutely Nothing Got Done'

Disclaimer: I think ten times is enough

* * *

"W-what do you mean?"

He gestured to the notebook with his one hand. "I've been watching you take notes on madness since this morning. I know you're planning on using it against me."

She frowned, hating that she'd been called out on it, and hating it more for knowing that it was true. She remembered earlier that morning, when she first started her research, she had felt guilty for planning to kill him without provocation, but had brushed it off because Asura was a kishin. She felt worse knowing that she'd wanted to kill him _because _he of what he was. And being a student of Shibusen who'd just realized that she was being discriminatory and on all accounts despicable, she didn't like that at all. She was ready to exact justice for a crime he hadn't even committed.

_Screw that. _

"No."

He frowned. "What?"

She tossed the journal to the floor. "I'm not going to do this."

His frown deepened. "Do what?"

"I'm not going to use anything against anyone. It's not fair to you that I kill you just because you're different than me."

He looked between the discarded journal and Maka's determined face. It scared him at first, knowing that Maka was so quick to change a seemingly final decision because she was so intent on being the best person she could be. But he felt glad to know that her wanting to kill him wasn't personal. She just wanted to protect everyone she loved. _This girl is definitely something, _he thought, intrigued. _Perhaps I judged her too quickly. _"You...you would do that? Just abandon all this?" he gestured to the journal.

She nodded. "Yes. Even though your soul might be different than mine, you still have one. And anyone who has a soul is still worth something to me. Besides, it isn't fair if I kill you just because you're different."

He brightened, his eyes glowing – for once, not with insanity, but with hopefulness. "That's...kind of you." he then smirked, looking more like his old self. "But I still doubt you could kill me."

She brushed her bangs out of her face, smiling. "Hopefully you won't give me a reason to try."

"No promises." the kishin leaned back against the couch's armrest, stretching out his legs. He draped them over the meister's lap, making her frown in an irked way. "You're very fascinating." he observed. Maka's mind flashed back to the day before, when Asura had called her 'an unusual human' and 'different' from him. She frowned instantly. "What do you mean?"

Sensing that he had somehow upset Maka, he backtracked. "I-I only mean that you have an interesting personality." he said quickly. "You're a lot different than most humans I've met."

Her gaze softened. "Oh really? You mustn't have met very many humans, then."

"Don't be so modest. You're very kind for a human."

The corner of Maka's mouth twitched. "Flattery?" she asked, and Asura felt his face warm, and he unconsciously looked over at Blair, who had been dozing on top of the bookshelf. She gave him a thumbs-up with one paw, smiling encouragingly.

"Apparently so." he answered Maka, quickly looking back at her so she wouldn't notice Blair. The scythe meister blushed. "T-thank you." she stammered, feeling awkward for thanking her former-arch-enemy. "Well you're not so bad yourself." she returned lamely.

"Nah, I know I'm terrible. I pity you for having to put up with me."

"You're not _that _bad."

"Now who's flattering who?"

The scythe meister gave a good-natured laugh. "I'm not lying. Well, you could be a little less condescending all the time. And..." she broke off, staring intently at the bandages that covered Asura's body. He blinked. "And what?"

"Maybe you could put some clothes on?"

It took Asura a whole second before he burst out laughing. Not the high-pitched, insane laugh that she heard during the battle, but a _real _laugh. One that didn't send shivers down her spine. She found herself laughing along with him. "Is that too much to ask?" she asked when she could catch her breath. He shook his head. "Of course not. I don't much like being uh...clothes-less anyway. Might take me a while to find something though."

"I have clothes."

He grinned, giving her an 'are you serious?' look. "You really think that _your _clothes will fit _me_?"

She looked him over. "Hm. I guess not." she laughed again.

Asura sat up, folding his long legs under him. "...can we talk about something?"

Hearing his tone shift to a serious one, Maka looked over. "About what?"

"What happened earlier today. In the classroom."

She blushed. "U-uh which part?"

His face shadowed. "You know. I wanted to apologize for it. I was being childish."

Maka edged closer to him, folding her hands in her lap. "It's okay. I understand completely. And I'm sorry I...jumped on you."

Silence fell over the two as they remembered the awkward fall they took. He coughed uncomfortably. "It's alright. I deserved that."

_Which part? _Maka thought with a flash of embarrassment. She still couldn't forget the way they ended up, with him on top of her and–

The front door swung open, startling both of them. Soul walked in, holding a small stack of books. He looked at the two, who sat close together as they talked. "Uh...I'm back." He clearly wasn't used to the two _not _trying to kill each other.

Maka stood up and walked over to him, abandoning Asura. "Hey, Soul. What's with the books?"

He gazed at them disdainfully. "Homework. Professor Stein changed his mind and wanted me to pass on a written test for you. Said you'd be too busy dealing with..." he cast a sidelong glance at Asura, who observed the two with narrowed eyes. Something ominous flashed in them. "...anyway, Stein told me that you could turn in it whenever you were ready. Also, Black Star says hi, and Kid says that if you need any help with our uh, 'situation', go to him."

"Wow, all that in one day? That's a new record." she took the stack of books from him and hurried into her room, Soul following close by. When Asura was left alone, Blair jumped down from the shelf and stretched. "You're a natural." she meowed.

Asura leaned against the cushions, folding his arms. "Not like it worked. When that albino comes back, she jumps up like an eager puppy. Anyone could tell that she likes him more than me."

The cat jumped up and rubbed against his leg. "Don't give up now! You were doing fine."

Asura frowned. "Why do I try anyway? I don't even like her."

Blair grinned, her tail flicking. "Suuure. As if you'd give her those soft eyes if you _didn't._ Just admit it already. Maka's a nice girl. Surely a good enough girl to get the attention of even the God of Insanity?"

The kishin started to protest, but Blair was already padding off, her words steadfast. "Just think about it, okay?" she said as she vanished around the corner, heading into Maka's room. Asura's shoulders hunched. _Maybe the purple cat is right. I _do _like talking to the girl, and she is kind. I just don't see the connection. Just because someone else is nice doesn't mean that everyone has to be in love with them. _The more he thought about, the more Blair's words felt close to the truth. It somewhat explained why he felt so embarrassed when he 'fell' on her, and why he couldn't stop staring at her. But since they'd only known each other for a short amount of time, it didn't seem logical to Asura, especially since then all they did was fight. How could a relationship come out of that?

Asura stuck to his own reasoning, like he'd done his entire life. _It _isn't _possible. That cat must be confused. _

He could hear the meister and her weapon talking, and couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance. She had just abandoned him in the middle of their make-up conversation. And she reprimanded _him _for being rude. But he felt more angry at the scythe for barging in at the worst time. _Stupid boy. Getting in the way during the battle, and getting in the way of me and Maka._

He blinked, his own thoughts surprising him. What he felt...was it really anger?

No, it was something else...

...Jealousy?


	12. Caught

GOD CHAPTER 11 WAS A BITCH TO WRITE

I tried writing the first three paragraphs like fifteen times with no progress. (Einstein defined insanity as repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results. EXPLAINS MUCH)

I'm not good with expressing emotions so it goes from sad to happy in like two seconds

But since this is a note on _this _chapter, I have to talk about _this_ one instead. (I think I should write these _after_ I write the actual chapter)

I was sitting here thinking about where I'm going with this story pairing-wise, and I'm debating if I should make it an actual pairing or not. In the characters, it just says 'Asura, Maka A.', but my fangirlish subconscious is itching to change it to 'AsuraxMaka'. SO. BADLY.

But I'll see where this goes. If not, I'll make a new fic just for that pairing since the internet needs more crack.

ME AND MY ARTISTIC VIEWS

Disclaimer: Don't own Soul Eater

* * *

What do you think, Spirit?"

The red-haired Death Scythe peered out of the windows of the Death Room, watching the few red clouds swirl by. He made a face. "It's almost clear. I say that kishin has kept his end well." he said it as if he wasn't happy about it. "Seems like a waste to me. If we had taken care of him, the madness would be gone completely and we wouldn't have a kishin in our city."

"I don't love it either, Spirit."

The Death Scythe faced the Shinigami, who was gazing emptily at his mirror. "Then why is he still here? You know as well as I do that he's a bomb waiting to go off. And when he does, my darling Maka will be the first in the line of fire."

"I put him with her for a reason."

"You mean for irony's sake?"

Shingami glared at him. "I'm not that pointlessly cruel. It's not only for her anti-madness wavelength either."

"Then what?"

He turned back to the mirror. "I've had some suspicions, and you won't be the first to call me crazy for it, but I think that Maka has the capabilities to rehabilitate Asura."

"...you're kidding, right?"

He sighed. "No, Spirit. Kid told me what happened during that fight, how Asura raged out of control at the mere mention of courage. I thought about it, and I came to this rather obvious conclusion: Asura fears things he doesn't understand. For a while, I thought that was true. But after his claimed 'love' for Arachne, I came to a very different conclusion."

Spirit put his hands in his pockets. "And that is?"

The god of death straightened up. "True, he fears the unknown, but he also seems to 'absorb' what's around him."

"...what?"

"Take Arachne for example. When she grew to care for him, he learned what it was like to love. Perhaps, if Maka can influence him enough with her kindness and courage, then maybe he can learn them as well."

Spirit looked skeptical. "But do you really think he's capable of such a thing?"

"Just because he's a cowardly kishin doesn't mean he can't have regular emotions like anyone else."

"But isn't there even the _slightest _chance that it won't work?"

Shinigami sighed. "Of course there's a chance. A rather big chance, actually. Insanity is his most prominent emotion, and it tends to drown out the others in order to satisfy itself. In fact, I'd say that it's near impossible."

"Then why still give him the chance?"

Shinigami faced him, a determined look in his empty eye sockets. "As long as there's a chance, I'm not condemning anyone."

Spirit raised his hands in a 'calm down' gesture. "Alright, alright, I get it. But don't you think that we should at least have a backup just in case?"

The god of death pressed one block finger to the mirror, and the image of Death City faded as he called another location. "I suppose so..."

The Death Scythe waited. "...what did you have in mind?"

"A plan. A test."

"Test?"

"Yes. I haven't quite thought out the details, though. When I do, be prepared to call in Maka's team."

"Including or excluding the kishin?"

"_In_clude, of course! He's who we're testing here!"

The mirror beeped, and the reflection flashed as the projection depicted a small village. Rain poured down from the sky, though there were no clouds in the sky. Shinigami gazed silently at it, lost in thought.

* * *

Maka smiled warmly in her sleep as she dreamed of running through a field of summertime flowers, her hair down and flowing in the wind. The petals of the flowers billowed up around her, rising up into the clear blue sky. She flopped down on the flowerbed and spread her arms and legs, making a flower angel in happiness. Her sweet girly dream ended in a sharp _CLICK._

Her eyes shot open. Sunlight streamed into her room from her window, and birds chirped loudly outside. Thinking that she imagined the noise, Maka sunk her head back onto her pillow and closed her eyes, ready to continue her lovely drea–

"Yo, Maka! You hibernating?" the high-pitched voice of Black Star called to her from the streets below the apartment. Maka sat up and pushed the window open, glaring down at the ninja who stood directly below her window two stories down. "What do you want," she yawned, "Black Star?"

He set down his armful of rocks that he used to throw at her window. He shielded the sun from his eyes with his hand. "I thought you'd _never _wake up! Haven't been sleeping much?"

"What is it, Black Star? I was having a nice dream before you woke me up."

"Ah, forget about it. As long as _I'm _around, dreams are just–"

"I have a book here that has your name on it. Get to the point."

"Oh, right. Shinigami-sama wants to see you. Soul too. And the kishin."

_ Asura too? I wonder what he wants from us._

"Thanks, Black Star!" she turned away from the window, but Black Star called her back. "Wait, Maka."

She peered back down at him. He had a serious look on his face, which made Maka a bit concerned. "Shinigami-sama told me to tell you that you'll be out of the city on a mission. Said it was serious. You be careful, okay? Punch that kishin if he doesn't behave, alright?"

The living room window opened, and Asura gazed down at the ninja. "I can hear everything you're saying, you know."

Black Star readied a throwing rock, holding it up threateningly. "A spy! Take _this_!" he hurled the small stone at Asura, who promptly caught it with one hand. He crushed it, sending dust and dirt falling down to the ground. "Oh, yes. So scary."

The ninja pointed. "This isn't over! I'll still kick your ass!"

"You do that." the kishin sounded bored. He glanced at Maka. "Can I borrow that book of yours?"

She frowned at both of them. "No! We're leaving soon, if you didn't already hear. I need to wake up Soul." she closed her window.

Black Star gave Asura the 'I'm watching you' fingers and bolted around the corner of the complex, shouting incoherently as he went. Asura rolled his eyes and withdrew, closing the window behind him. _Humans. _

"Soul? Wake up." Maka knocked on her partner's door several times, and it took him a few minutes to answer. The door swung open, and Soul rubbed his eyes, yawning. "Maka? It's Saturday. What is it?"

"Shinigami-sama wants to see us. Start getting ready."

The albino cast a wary glance at Asura from the hallway. The kishin was stretching himself, yawning loudly. "Is _he _coming?" Soul asked

"Yes. Get dressed. Black Star said it's serious."

"He exaggerates a lot. But whatever." he closed the door. Maka walked into the living room, giving Asura a long look. "You're coming too."

He yawned again. "So I hear."

She headed back into her room, and Blair the cat scampered out, looking tired. She placed both paws on the carpet and stretched luxuriously, meowing a yawn. "Morning, kishin."

"And yourself, cat."

"Blair." she corrected, licking one paw.

He nodded politely. "Blair."

The magical cat began to roll around on her back. "Thought about it yet?"

"Not like I had a choice."

"And?"

"I reject it."

The cat purred in amusement. "Such a stubborn kishin. Well, nothing you say will change my mind. It's obvious – to me anyway – that you like her. You become more relaxed around her, I can sense your wavelengths. You talk about her too. Plus..." she looked around to make sure that Maka or Soul weren't around. She lowered her voice significantly. "I saw how fiercely you glared at Soul when he came in."

Asura made a face. "That doesn't mean anything."

She jumped up next to him. "But it does! You're jealous that Soul might be closer to Maka! Which proves that you like her attention."

She was so close to the truth that it hurt Asura to think about it. He still wanted to deny it, though, but he figured that it wouldn't do any good to deny something he knew that was true. "...you win. Maybe I _am _jealous."

Blair leaned her head in closer. "Aaaand...?"

He frowned. "That's all I'm admitting today. Try again some other time."

"Hm, let me put it this way. There's a song out there, and one part of it goes 'didn't love her till you let her go'."

"So?"

"It means that you didn't realize you liked Maka until you saw her with Soul. It ate you apart, I bet."

"I _was _upset, but I don't see the connection."

"You want her for yourself."

_Hm. This cat knows a lot, doesn't she? _"...I guess."

"There you go."

"So, wanting someone for yourself is love?"

"It's a part of it."

_Hm. Maybe I do like Maka..._ "Whatever. We haven't even known each other for that long."

"Doesn't that prove how close you are though?"

"Since I got here, all we've done is fight."

"Not yesterday. If you ask me, I think all that scene was missing was a romantic kiss."

He scoffed. "I think she'd rather dive in magma."

Blair shook her head. "You'll admit it when you're ready." she padded off into the hallway, her tail flicking. Asura would never admit it out loud, but he now knew Blair was right. His pride wouldn't allow him to submit so easily, but even he couldn't ignore the signs. He'd been through enough with Arachne to know what it felt like. But he could sense that it was different. The Spider witch had felt more like a mother to him, so he wasn't surprised that his feelings toward Maka were different. He hadn't considered the thought that maybe Maka didn't feel the same. It hadn't come up once.


	13. A Fox's Wedding : Part 1

Unlucky number 13! Also unlucky for the trio of merry souls on their way to their DOOOOM

Okay, not really, but I won't spoil things for ya!

In truth, I have no idea what happens in a chapter until after I write it. It always turns out differently than what I intend. Like Chapter 11 was supposed to end with Maka and Asura making out but that didn't happen obviously. SORRY FANGIRLS MAYBE NEXT TIME

I may end up promoting it to M if I want this pairing to go all the way. I'm also changing the summary of the fic.

I have been known to change my mind a lot, yes.

I was debating whether or not I should mention this but... *looks around*

Being in college makes me sound older, doesn't it?...I'm not even 18 yet and I'm a sophomore in college XD

Alas, I am but a humble 15 year old...

Sorry for bragging. IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN, OFFICER

Disclaimer: Don't own Soul Eater, dude.

* * *

"I wish I brought an umbrella..." Soul muttered for perhaps the millionth time. All three had the unpleasant experience of wallowing through a muddy dirt road toward a southern village that had been drowning in rain for the past three days straight. Maka ruined one of her books by holding it over her head the whole time, and Asura made a disgusted face every time his bare feet sunk into the mud. All of their patience had been stretched thin before they even saw the village in the distance. "Why the hell did we agree to this?" the albino growled.

Maka shook the water out of her book, then held it back up over her head. Her arm burned from holding it there. "Shinigami-sama wanted us to investigate this rain and what caused it."

Soul's hair was plastered to his face. "Rain comes from clouds. There you go."

Asura snickered. "Look up in the sky, genius. There _are _no clouds. That's why _we're _here."

Maka flashed him a warning glance. "Let's save our bitterness for whatever caused this. Not for each other."

He looked away.

The village was all but deserted. The straw houses that lined the dirt roads were boarded up, with sacks of sand built around them to keep the rainwater from getting inside. The chimneys blew no smoke, and hardly a soul passed by. "Nice place." Asura commented snidely.

Soul peeked into one of the houses windows that weren't boarded. "They're sitting on top of their tables. The floors are flooded." he knocked on the window to get their attention. "Hey! We're from the academy! Can you come outside and tell us about this rain?"

The people huddled up on top of their table scuttled further away, casting fearful glances at each other through their thick black cloaks. They muttered incoherently through the glass.

The albino scythe sighed, shaking his head. "No good."

Maka gently pushed him aside, peering into the window herself. "Let me see." She tried getting their attention again, while Asura began to wander around by himself. The market place was empty, with only the wet wood booths standing. _I take it these people do not like rain. _

He ventured further into the village, finding nothing else but a beggar curled up under a wooden overhanging that protected her from the rain. She raised her gaze at him. "...kishin?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes. I've come with two Shibusen students. Anything you can tell me about this?" he pointed at the sky.

She thought about it. "This weather's an omen to our village. Bad luck to be outside."

He lowered himself down. "What kind of omen?"

The woman wiped away some dirt on her face with her ragged robe. "An omen of th' Kitsune. There's a shrine to th' Northeast dedicated to them, but we don't go there durin' A Fox's Wedding."

"A Fox's Wedding?"

"S'what this rain is called. They say them foxes get married in it."

"You mentioned a shrine. Where can I find it?"

She lifted a bony finger to the Northeast. "In th' forest. I wouldn't go over there, though. Kitsune'll get ya."

The woman covered her face with the robe and curled back up into a dirty ball. Asura had all the information he needed. He headed back through the streets to find Maka and her partner, almost running into them as they rounded a corner. Maka frowned. "There you are! We thought you made a run for it."

"Never mind that. I think I have something."

* * *

"This is it?"

The three stood in front of a weathered shrine, rotted away in some places from age. It was box-shaped, just big enough for a single person to kneel inside it to pray or make offerings. The rooftop was curved outward to shed water, so the inside stayed dry. Stepping stones almost covered up by water led up to the steps of the shrine. Two fox statues almost as big as the shrine stood on either side, holding scroll-like keys in their stone jaws and their necks wrapped in a crimson red cloth.

Asura stepped lightly on the stones, trailing his hand along one of the statue's snouts. "These ruins are ancient." he observed, dusting away some lichen and moss. The carvings were exact and smooth, hardly damaged at all despite the pouring rain and the erosion of time. He looked back at Maka and Soul, who stood on the edge of the stones, waiting. "We should start here."

The albino stuck his hands in his pocket after giving up trying to squeeze water out of his hair. "What are we even looking for?"

Maka answered him while stepping carefully across the stones. "Anything that can help." She met up with Asura at the box shrine. "Did you check in there?" she asked. He shook his head. "I won't fit. You can, though."

The meister sank down to her knees, crawling under the wooden beam. The roof was higher than she expected, so she could sit up straight. Small shelves bordered the inside of the shrine, lined with tiny fox busts each carved uniquely and expertly. "That's a lot of foxes." she whistled. Asura peeked his head in. "What?"

She pointed to the shelves. "There are tiny statues all over the place."

"Hand me one."

She plucked one of the closest off the shelves, a fox carved with stripes that appeared to be jumping downward. She held it out to him. As he turned it over, Maka peered into a small offering box that was placed in the back of the shrine. Inside were countless gemstones, gold pieces and jewels. "Wow! There's a small fortune in here!" she exclaimed. She picked up the box – surprisingly heavy – and crawled back out of the shrine. Asura was trailing his fingers along the fox carving, impressed. "Exquisite." he murmured. He noticed the box. "What's in there?"

"Offerings. Gems and gold."

Asura placed the small bust down on the steps and opened the carved box. "Hm...why would the villagers give such valuable items to a shrine?"

"U-uh...guys?" Soul's concerned voice caused them both to turn around. Soul was pointing to a

familiar and ragged shape approaching them from the direction of the village, shuffling through the mud. It was cloaked in a thick and torn black robe. Asura handed the box back to Maka and raised his gaze at the beggar he met in the village. "You again." he called. "Have you come to pray at the shrine?"

The woman cackled, as if laughing at a funny joke. "It's bad luck to be outside during th' Wedding rain! The kitsune'll get ya!" she laughed again, and Soul took a few steps back, his shoes sinking into the tiny river's water.

"What kitsune?" Soul asked warily, turning himself away from the woman and toward his meister and the kishin.

The woman reached a bony hand up and pulled the cloak hood over her face completely, chuckling quietly. "Th' kitsune are out an' about...they got bewitchin' powers, so they can be anywhere...or any_one_!" With a high-pitched roar, the woman ripped off her cloak and lunged. Instead of a frail lady, a large furry animal struck Soul in the upper chest, sending him careening into the shrine's river water. He grunted in surprise, but was up and transforming into a scythe within seconds. Maka abandoned her box of treasures and grabbed her partner's hilt, glaring at the new and unlikely threat. Once a harmless peasant, a black fox stood before them, her sleek black fur plastered to her body from the Wedding rain. Her amber eyes glowed wickedly.

Maka started forward, but Asura held her back with one hand. "Wait." he ordered. She glared up at him, eyes flashing. "That's the familiar I was chasing before! I'm _not _letting it get away this time!" She shoved Asura aside and charged, swinging her scythe over her head down on the small fox as she crashed through the river. As soon as her foot crossed the last stepping stone, chaos erupted. Eerie caterwauling echoed through the forest as countless other flashes of black threw themselves upon the meister. They knocked her to the ground easily, battering her from all sides. She cried out as one of the spectral shapes slashed her side with sharp claws. But the meister felt something wrap around her waist and pull her back sharply out of the throng, dropping her at the foot of the shrine. The barrage of claws subsided, and she gazed up to find Asura staring down at her, concerned. "I told you to wait." he said calmly. "Look."

Trying to ignore the pulsing pain of her side, she gazed out. The shadows that had suddenly leaped for her were slithering around in the air, making distorted yips of anger. The black fox that had shifted from the woman stood amongst them, her fur standing on end. They didn't come anywhere near the shrine. The fox stalked around in a circle, the shadows following her close by. Her amber eyes seemed to burn into them as she peeled her lips back in a snarl. "Kitsune...kitsune..." the fox taunted in a melodic voice.

Maka backed up the steps of the shrine, holding Soul uncertainly. "What are they?" she asked in a trembling voice, getting nervous when one of the shadows flew up and over her, though it stayed ten feet away. Asura didn't seem too fazed by their appearance. "They're illusions, summoned by that familiar."

Both weapon and meister gaped at him. "How do you know that?"

Asura kept his blood red eyes on the familiar at all times. "I can see it. She's the only real one."

Maka put a hand to her side, feeling the wound start to ache. "If those _things _aren't real, how did they hurt me?"

"It wasn't them. The fox uses an illusion to make you think that she's in one place, while she's really in another. That way she can attack without _being _attacked."

The scythe meister gripped her weapon. "How do we fight back?"

"You'd have to fight with your eyes closed, using only your Soul Perception to fight so you aren't tricked by the illusions. I don't have to do that, I can see through the magic without it. Stay here. This won't take long."

Without waiting for a response, Asura launched himself into the fray, disappearing into a swarm of black.

Maka was forced to watch idly as Asura became visible every few seconds, striking out in a different place. To her, Asura's attacks all missed, hitting nothing but air. But she kept hearing yelps of pain coming from the familiar at each blow. _The illusion! It only looks like he's missing because I'm too focused on the illusion! _She closed her eyes, activating her Soul Perception. Her mind drew a mental map: A strong red kishin soul traded blows with a small pink soul that darted frantically around it, shuddering with each strike. It was working!

Inside the swarm of shadows, Asura wasn't faring as well as he thought he would be. His attacks only served to ward off the attacking fox, who seemed to be everywhere at once. His four scarves were helpful in blocking the attacks his arms couldn't, but with all his defending, he couldn't land a decisive blow. He couldn't risk attacking with Vajra; Maka and her partner were nearby, and if he injured the shrine, they would become vulnerable to the illusion. He didn't want to hit the village either. _Damn this dog!_ He swung out with his right leg, catching the fox's front legs. The fox buckled forward, and she face-planted in the muddy water with an _oof_. But before Asura could lunge for her, the fox was back on her feet, snarling furiously. Most of her body was now covered in mud, which made it easier for Asura to distinguish her amongst the shadows that swarmed him.

It didn't help much, since this fox was obviously trained well. Her agility made it easy for her to dodge the kishin's attacks, while also being able to land blows and slip away like a fish in water. It wasn't long before Asura felt himself wearing down, his not-fully-recovered soul beginning to tire. His exhaustion wasn't the only problem. With his soul beginning to weaken, his vision blurred. _If I loose my ability to see through her illusions, I'll be defeated easily__. __I have to end this before that happens._

It happened sooner than he expected. He lashed out when he saw the fox charge, but his arm swung nothing but thin air, and he felt the burn of claws raking down his back. Several cuts on his arms and legs followed quickly. He clenched his teeth and whirled around, hoping to catch the fox at another attack. But a slash to the back of his arm proved him wrong. He glared around at the illusion, trying to make out the real shape amongst the blurry ones around him. _I am _not _going to be beaten by a dog! _

Wanting to die rather than allow his pride to be hurt, he unsheathed Vajra and shot wildly as his last-resort, too furious to care what he hit. The laser tore through the ground under him and incinerated several trees, and he heard a shattering _BOOM _in the distance followed by distraught screams; he'd accidentally hit the village. "Damn it all..." he growled, just glad that he didn't hit the shrine. He pushed off from the slippery mud and landed behind the shrine's protectivebarrier, where Maka and Soul both waited slack-jawed. Soul had transformed back into a human, apparently assuming that Asura would've handled it by himself. _He gives me one look and I tear him open. _

He found himself panting as he landed in the water, his muscles burning and his vision fuzzy. "Damn..." he cursed again. Maka ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his chest to keep him from falling. "Asura! What happened?"

"I..." he fought for breath. "...I got tired...and I couldn't see past her illusions anymore."

"Was it because of our fight?"

He nodded, wounded in more ways than one. _There goes my pride. Whatever's left of it._ "Y-yeah. I just need to rest for a little bit then I should be able to keep going..."

Maka let him rest against the steps of the shrine. "No. I'll finish it."

"What? But you–"

She smiled. "It's alright. I know I can do this. You just rest, okay, Asura?"

His eyes widened as he glimpsed raw determination glittering in her eyes. She wasn't going to take no for an answer. He leaned against the shrine, nodding in resignation. "...alright. But be careful."

The scythe meister took hold of her weapon once more and readied herself. The illusion shadows split apart once more, circling around the shrine. The familiar huffed and panted, shaking the mud and blood off her pelt. "Heh...what kind of kishin can't even beat off one fox?"

Asura narrowed his eyes from where he rested. "You're lucky that I'm still recovering from my last fight, otherwise you'd be my new coat by now."

The familiar grinned cockily. "Likely. Who's going to fight me now? The little girl and her toy scythe?"

Maka took a threatening step forward. "I'll be taking your soul, now."

The fox's ears twitched. "I'd love to see you try."

The scythe meister braced, ready to step out of the protection barrier, her fists clenched around Soul's handle. The fox's claws flexed in the dirt, her eyes shimmering with the light of battle.

But just as both sides were about to spring at each other, and new voice cut through the tense silence.

_**"What's going on here?"**_


	14. A Fox's Wedding : Part 2

Which of the following best demonstrates the author's hypocrisy?

A ) A pickle

B ) Including an OC when she is clearly against having OCs

C ) A flying raccoon

D ) Hiking on the sun

If you picked B, you were right!

If you picked A, C or D, you might have serious brain damage.

Yes, I do not usually approve of OCs, but here I go having one and even giving her a full chapter and a half. EYUP.

I made a note to write down the entire plot start to finish, and we're almost at the halfway point. Expect it to be MUCH more dramatic than it already is, but also expect some action at the end. Want to go out with a bang. In more ways than one, if you know what I mean.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Soul Eater

* * *

A figure melted out of the shadows of the forest, gazing at the scene before her with wide blue eyes. She was young, of only around 12, with raven black hair that stuck out on her face to resemble a fox's broad face and pointy ears. The familiar scampered over to her, leaping into the girl's arms. It was almost too big for her to carry. The illusions that swirled in the air faded into the light as did the tension of battle.

"What's going on here?" the girl repeated.

Maka lowered her scythe, and Asura gazed over with curious eyes. _Who's this little girl? _The scythe meister thought. "Who are you?" she asked aloud, an edge in her voice.

The girl didn't seem daunted. "I'd ask the same of you. What were you doing to my little puppy?"

"Puppy?" Asura echoed. "You call that demon a puppy?"

The fox turned and snarled at him, her lips drawn back to reveal sharp fangs still black with the kishin's blood. The girl petted the fox's head soothingly. "Enigma's not a demon! She was just protecting her territory. And she _did _warn you not to go near the shrine, didn't she?"

Enigma the fox nodded eagerly.

The girl glared at Maka accusingly. "And _look _who chose to ignore her."

Soul's image appeared on the scythe's blade. "Oi, Maka. Who is this girl anyway?"

Maka lowered her gaze. "She's a witch, I'm sure of it. There's no mistaking one."

Asura heaved himself to his feet, leaning against one of the shrine's statues. "Shinigami said we had to 'take care of whatever is causing the eternal rain'. Seems like we're looking at it."

"That's obvious." Maka gripped Soul. "So you're the witch who caused this rain?"

The girl thought about it. "Maybe. What's it to you?"

"I'm scythe meister Maka Albarn, One-Star Meister! I represent Shinigami-sama's academy for meisters and weapons!"

Over at the shrine, Asura snickered. It was the same way she'd introduced herself to him. Maka ignored him. _Awkward friendship issues later. I need to get rid of this problem once and for all. _

The girl yawned, pulling up one hand as if to look at her watch if she had one. "Yeah, that's nice. What's your point?"

"The _point _is, I'll be taking your soul now!"

The girl frowned uncomprehendingly. "Just because I caused some rain? Just what the hell is that Shinigami teaching you people?"

"That's what I've been wanting to know." Asura agreed, but clamped his mouth shut when Maka gave him a sideways glare.

The girl seemed to notice the kishin for the first time. "Kishin Asura? Never thought I'd lived to see the day."

Maka took another step forward. "It gets old fast."

"Hey!" Asura protested.

The meister shushed him, but the girl continued before Maka could get another word in. "I heard about Arachne." the girl grinned. "That Spider got what she deserved, eh?"

He hunched his shoulders. "I don't want to talk about it. Maka?"

She nodded. "I know, I know, I'm getting there. Look, we're not here to have tea-time with you!"

The little girl sighed, readjusting her grip on her fox. "Pity."

"So why did you do it?"

"What, the rain?"

"What else?"

"You academy kids get riled up for nothing, don't you? Let's just say it's a tradition. Once a year, the people of this village get a five-day long douse of water that I gift to them from the cloudless sky. If that's not poetic, I dunno what is."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"Touchy, touchy. Alright, you get the full story then." she put the fox down, which scampered off into the forest's shadows. "This particular story starts over eight-hundred years ago. This village suffered from a severe drought which drove them all into starvation. They could grow no crops, nor could they draw water from their dried-up wells. They prayed to Shinigami for help, but one of the more superstitious villagers sought a more uh...quick solution. He found my home in this forest, a temple built into a cliff wall, which, based on the story my puppy told me, you found the entrance to by chasing her into it. Anyway, the man begged for my help. He said my magic could be used to summon rain from the skies, and in return for helping his people, they'd give me offerings of their prosperity. It feels nice to be appreciated, so I accepted. He took me back to his starving village, and asked that I bring the rain. There was one slight problem, though. My magic can do lots of things, but controlling the weather isn't one of them. But I couldn't let _them _know that. So I conjured an illusion and tricked them into thinking that it had begun raining. They rejoiced, of course, and began to shower me with whatever valuables they could find. All the while, they danced in their fake rain, blissfully ignorant, as they say." she twirled her fingers around in the air to mimic dancing.

Maka had lowered her scythe again as she listened, a more disgusted look screwing up her face. "That's horrible."

The girl glared at her for interrupting her story. "That's _life._ Do you think that Shinigami thinks about that when he's about to murder one of my kind? No!"

"He has a good reason to! All witches do is use their magic to do horrible things to innocent people! Like you!"

"I didn't ask your opinion. I'm not done with my story, either. As I was _saying,_ the villagers didn't suspect a thing. Now, keep in mind that I really _did _want to help those villagers, its just that I couldn't make rain is all. And I wanted to be appreciated, like I said earlier. But I needed a way to give them real rain. I asked one of the forest's foxes – Enigma before she became one of my familiars..."

"_One _of her familiars?" Soul whispered.

"...if there was any way I could make their wishes a reality. I learned of an ancient Japanese folktale myth, namely 'A Fox's Wedding', when it rains on a clear sunny day with no clouds in the sky, supposedly when two foxes get married. It was also the only way to forcefully make it rain. So, with a little intimidation and a bit of 'persuasion', I managed to get two foxes to marry each other the next day. Low and behold, it started to pour. I managed to make it back to the village before the rain started to make it seem like I had started it – even had a goofy chant and all that." she smiled warmly. "I'll never forget how good it felt to be praised. Plus the money was good. For the next month or so, I'd ask some of my furry little friends to get hitched every week, and I'd get a steady stream of gold, jewels and anything I could possibly want. By the end of that month, I was sleeping on a mountain of gold. It was a win-win. For a while, that is. Before I knew it, every fox I knew of had a mate they didn't even know, and the Wedding rain only works for non-married foxes."

"Ever heard of a divorce?" Maka interrupted.

She waved a hand. "Like animals get divorced, pft. No, divorce wasn't an option. But it was still drought season, and I had nothing to keep the gold coming. I was in trouble. I couldn't exactly leave either, not with all that treasure that quickly became a burden. So I went back to my little illusion trick while I tried to come up with a solution."

"They didn't notice the difference?" Asura asked. The girl shook her head. "No, my illusions are very realistic."

"Like your 'puppy's'?"

"No, mine can actually wound people."

"Comforting." he muttered.

"Yeah, keep that in mind the next time you decide to make me angry. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Well, the _people _couldn't see the difference. But the plants could. Wasn't long before they started going dry again. I tried using an illusion to make them seem normal, but keeping a rain illusion and an all-day plant illusion took too much out of me. Eventually, I became so drained that I couldn't even manage ten minutes of rain. That's when things got a bit...messy. I had to rest, which meant no illusions, period. Three days later, the villagers visited my temple, demanding more rain. I made up a lie, just a little one...I told them that since making rain was difficult, I needed help in channeling my magic to the sky. I asked them to build me a shrine in the forest – anything to stall them. I said that when it was done, I'd be able to make the fullest rains they'd ever seen." the girl paused and walked up to one of the shrine's statues, surprising all three when she walked past the ten foot radius of the protection barrier. She stroked the stone fox's head. "This shrine was beautiful once..." she murmured, her blue eyes glittering with past memories.

"They brought me here to see it the moment it was finished. That's when they asked for the rain again. After seeing the beautiful shrine, and knowing what I'd done, I started to feel guilty. And not just a little, a lot. I knew I was at the end of my rope. No more tricks, no more illusions. With a heavy heart, I told the villagers everything. About the weddings, the trickery. All of it. I had hoped that they'd take pity on a little girl of a witch who wanted to help even though she couldn't, and that they'd forgive me." the girl's face hardened. "But they didn't. They grabbed their torches and pitchforks and...and..." she scraped her clawed fingernails across the stone statue, making an awful grating noise. She inhaled and exhaled, forcing herself to calm down. "They tried to kill me. I used my illusions to escape. Ironic, huh?" she glanced at the three with amused eyes, but her humor faded when it was met with disgusted faces. "I shouldn't expect pity out of you. Shinigami's lies run deep. But we're almost at the end."

She straightened up. "I retreated back to my temple, using illusions to make sure they wouldn't follow me inside. I sulked for a while, hearing the mobs outside my door. It didn't matter to me. I was too upset. I know what you're thinking; 'why are_ you _sad, you caused it'. Yeah, but think about it. I wanted to help them, and for a while it was real. Then they just throw me away the minute they find out that I'm not all powerful. I thought about it, and I thought about it, and I realized something. _They _had no power, but _I _did. Maybe not their preference, but surely enough to get my anger out. I went back to that wretched village. I saw that they destroyed my shrine. Burned it to the ground. But I took all of my hate, all of my _anger_, and did the same thing to the village. Nothing but ashes. After that, I used that newfound hatred to raise my shrine back from the ashes. Only this time, it served as a symbol of my dominance, of my hatred. And as I walked back to my temple victorious, rain began to fall from that clear night sky."


	15. A Fox's Wedding: Part 3

5 CHAPTERS TO 20 AW YEEEEAAAH

Writing these chapters just keeps getting harder. But no matter. I MUST WRITE

Each chapter takes about only a single day to write, but it sometimes takes a while to update, which is why I uploaded chapters 10 through 14 in one day.

I realize that there's only two types of summer vacations:

One where you do next to nothing the whole time, or one where you're super busy with hardly any time in between

The fact that all I do now is work on this fic proves which one I'm havin'

You all have a good summer, btw!

Oh, before I forget, I'm going to start two news fics, one called 'Reign' and the other 'The Hallowed', but I probably won't be posting them for a while since I hate having two unfinished fanfics active at once

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater

* * *

After her speech, the witch hunched her shoulders. "The villagers found me eventually. After using up all my energy making illusions that became so weak that even humans could see through them, I was too tired to make another run for it. I wasn't going to abandon all that treasure I made either. So I used what magic I had left to seal myself inside a fox statue in my temple. I'm not sure what happened after I lost consciousness, but I guess it was a lot considering that I woke up to a crumbling temple and a sky full of red."

"Sorry about that." Asura apologized sarcastically. "Won't happen again."

"I've been making it rain since then." she went on, as if the kishin hadn't spoken.

Maka looked disgusted. "If you weren't able to make it rain then, how are you able to now?"

She shrugged. "Hate is powerful. I'd like to say that my hate was so powerful that my magic reflects it. Plus the madness helps."

"Well, you got what you deserved, witch! You've no reason to hate those people! They just wanted help, and you took advantage of them! _You're _the one that deserves to be hated, not them!"

The girl looked offended. "I _did _help them, if you were listening. But the second I couldn't they turned on me like animals!"

"_You're _the animal here! Taking poor people's money while you pretend to make rain, that's really low!"

Asura wrapped one arm around the fox statue's neck as he lifted himself up. "Maka, calm down. We don't need to start any unnecessary fights here. Battling that familiar of hers was enough; I don't fancy seeing what _she _can do."

Maka gave him a sidelong glance. "I came here to stop these people's suffering and I'm not leaving until I do!"

To her surprise, Asura looked a little wounded. "You're going to kill this witch because she couldn't make rain?"

She faltered. "Uh...yeah.."

Before Asura could respond, the witch interrupted. "Just what the hell is Shinigami teaching you people?"

"That's what I want to know," Asura muttered, but clamped his mouth shut when Maka focused her glare at him.

"She also burned down those people's houses!" the meister continued. "And here they are now, cowering on their tables afraid to go outside!"

The witch shrugged, tugging at one of the keys that the statue held in its stone jaws. "Not my problem."

"So you just do all of these horrible things and expect us to not do anything about it?"

The girl wrenched the key free. "Why should you? It didn't happen to you or anyone you know." she studied the key she held, brushing off some of the moss.

Maka tightened her grip on her weapon. "That's not how this world is anymore. I don't know what kind of anarchical world you lived in back then, but things have changed. We take care of our own now."

"And what about the innocent witches who are killed every day in the name of Shinigami? Who takes care of them?"

"You all have each other."

"Do we?" the girl growled, gripping the key like Maka did her scythe. "What about Medusa and Arachne? Do you think that _they _cared about us? No! Arachne was too busy slaughtering our own to make atrocities like _him,_" she pointed at Soul. "And Medusa? She killed one of our own and forced their friend to do her bidding! Hm? Is that care? And what about the Grim War? Surely you know that everyone just wanted to save their own skins! Why else would so many of our own become traitors? No one cares about us! _We_ don't even care about us!"

"If even witches hate themselves, that just proves that they don't deserve mercy." Maka spat. "If you have used your powers for good instead of deception, we wouldn't even need to be here!"

"I tried helping those little swines, and look where it got me!" the girl yelled back. "If I didn't agree to help them, I'd be despicable! But I tried to help them as much as I could, and I'm _still _despicable! You're just the same as those villagers, expecting everything for nothing! Well I'm _tired _of it!" she drew the stone key up in the air, gripping the hilt as if it was a knife, and plunged it into the fox statue's chest, driving it through the solid rock. As Maka watched, the statue began to creak and rustle, its stoney limbs stretching and shaking off the lichen. A long thick tail thumped against the shrine base with a _clank,_ and hollow eyes staring out at the cloudless sky. The statue leaped off of its pedestal and crawled through the water, head low and menacingly as it stalked circles around the witch.

Asura glanced uncomfortably at the fox statue he practically hugged to stay upright. "Um..."

The witch gestured to the statue. "I call this one Shred." she said happily, with a smile. "Care to find out why?"

Unlike her partner, Maka wasn't fazed by the prospect of battling a stone canine. "I'm not afraid of your petty illusions."

"Illusion? Oh no, no, no. Shred here is quite real." she tapped one finger on the statue's head. "Soon you'll find that-"

Maka charged, swinging her scythe out at both of them, not caring which of them she hit. Shred reacted first; it reared up on its hind legs and caught the blade with both paws, stopping the attack in midair. The witch yelped by the suddenness of the attack and scampered back a few feet, hiding under the cover of one of the trees around the shrine. "H-hey, no fair! I wasn't ready that time!"

The scythe meister buried her foot in the fox's face and pushed away, breaking free of its grasp on Soul. She then arced the blade back at it, hoping to slice the dog in half. But to her surprise, the blade only clanked against the fox's side with a _CLANK. _Letting out a raspy grunt, Shred staggered back, only a small scratch denting its body. "That didn't do a thing..." Maka breathed, feeling the numbness in her hands from hitting something hard with so much force.

"How do we kill this thing, Maka?" Soul asked.

"I'm working on it." she leaped back as Shred slammed its paws into the mud where she would have been, missing her by a split second. Water and mud sprayed everywhere, leaving a deep crater in the ground. _Its body is so hard that cutting it doesn't work. Maybe I can use the same technique to beat this thing like I did Crona. Using brute – _She paused her thought as she dug the hilt of the scythe into the ground and swung her legs out, kicking the statue with both feet as it leaped up toward her with amazing speed. – _Force! _Maka felt a jolting pain through her legs when she kicked the solid stone through the air. Shred sailed back, sliding clumsily through the mud.

When Maka righted herself, she shook out her sore legs, thinking, _I'll regret that in the morning. _"That must have done something."

The fox scrabbled to its paws, recovering much quicker than a regular animal. At once it was up, as strong and undamaged as before. _Now what?_

She braced herself as the statue charged again, searching her mind for something she could use against it. _Cutting doesn't work, and hitting it hurts me more than it, so those are out. I could try Witch Hunter..._

She gazed down at Soul. Let's try Witch Hunter."

"Yeah, okay."

She held the scythe above her head and yelled, "Let's go, Soul Resonance!"

Blue energy enveloped the scythe's blade, cloaking it in mystical aura as the blade doubled in size, taking the super-skill form of Witch Hunter. She grasped the hilt with all her might and swung Soul as if he was a baseball bat just as Shred leaped up at her, stone claws extended. The magic blade collided with the statue, driving it through the chest with ease. The force sent the fox flying back yet again, this time in two pieces even flying through the trunks of several thin trees along the way. It crashed into the ferns just behind the witch, who looked back at him with worry.

"Did we kill it?" Soul asked, listening and looking for any signs of the statue.

Before Maka could answer, a four-legged stone body walked out shakily from the bushes, its top half shaved off evenly. It staggered around as if it was looking for something. Even with the situation she was in, Maka grinned at the sight of the headless fox searching for its head. When the bottom half stumbled into the ferns again, Maka knew the fight was over.

She nodded to the witch, who hid in the cover of the trees. "Seems like your little puppy is going to start chasing more than its tail."

The girl fumed. "It's not over yet-"

"No," Maka yawned. "I think it is."

The side of the witch's lips twitched. "Are you sure?" she nodded to the second statue, and it suddenly reached out and grasped the kishin with possessive embrace, holding him up to it with tremendous strength. Asura struggled and started to unsheathe Vajra, but the fox's jaws clamped down on his neck, preventing the blade from coming out. He thrashed against its hold, but this statue was much bigger than Shred, and he did not possess enough strength to pry it away. "Ack...Maka!"

The meister looked back at him, almost dropping Soul. "Asura!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about him." the witch advised. She gestured to the treeline behind her, where a familiar fox walked out of the bushes confidently, its severed top half resting on the cut edge unevenly. With a _snap, _the head swiveled back into its proper place. Shred let out a menacingly growl. "Besides," she continued. "I think Shred has something to say about you slicing off his head."

But Maka kept glancing back at Asura, who shot her wildly fearful looks. She started toward him, but the witch held up one hand. "Ah, ah, ah." she scolded, and the statue that held the kishin bit down on his neck, causing him to cry out, more out of fear than pain. "I'd hate to see him end up like Shred."

Maka rounded on her. "Let him go! He didn't do anything!"

"Mn, I don't think so. You wanted to kill me even though I didn't do anything, so what's to stop me from doing the same? Besides, I know of the battle between you two. Certainly you'd rather have him off your hands, no?"

She gripped her scythe. "That's not true!" she protested. "True, he has been a little ball of chaos since he got here, but I no longer consider him an enemy." she paused to give Asura a sincere look. "In fact, I'd go so far as to call him a friend."

The kishin's eyes widened, and he blushed a bit. "...friend?"

She smiled reassuringly, but she couldn't afford to be distracted. Asura was being held captive, and Maka still had an opponent of her own.

Maka re-instigated Witch Hunter, ready for round two. "I'll get you out of there, Asura, don't worry. Right after I deal with this." she charged again, just as Shred began his sprint.

The kishin, meanwhile, had his own problems to sort out. With the fox's jaws clamped around his throat, using Vajra wasn't an option. And since the statue was made of solid rock and had no living weak spots, he couldn't incapacitate it. And if he tried anyway, the fox might decide to rip his throat out. _Well, there's no way in hell I'm going to be bested a second time. Not today. Not ever. _

Maka attempted to slash Shred once more, but unfortunately for her, it seemed to become smarter since the last time; it wouldn't be beaten by the same move twice, and ducked under the blade, narrowly skimming the ground as it raced under the meister's legs, raking his claws along her calf. Blood streamed down from three gashes and she buckled forward, clutching her leg. "Aah..!" But he wasn't done yet. He swiveled in the mud and clamped his stoney jaws on the same wound, yanking his head back and forth, as if he was trying to pull her leg off completely. His fangs tore her skin to ribbons and blood streamed down onto the mud, but no matter how loud Maka screamed and beat at its head, he would not let go. The fox dug his paws into the ground and started to drag the meister, while she clawed at the earth trying to keep herself from being pulled by him. Adrenaline kept her body numb from feeling pain and lent her extra strength, but it wasn't enough to fend off the stronger adversary. Her foot connected with Shred's face, trying to push it away from her, but his grip was too strong. Her resistance only made him clamp down harder, making awful cracking sounds. Maka knew that he was biting through bone.

_I-If I don't get him off I might..._ She ignored the lightning flashes of pain that registered with such ferocity that her mind felt numb, and focused on trying to grasp her weapon, which was getting farther away as Shred dragged her through the ground. She glanced up at the shrine, praying that Asura might break free to save her, but saw that he was struggling just as much as her. _Damn it...this c-could be it for me...if I can't stand then I'll..._

She reached out for Soul just a few feet away, but a heavy weight suddenly bore down on her chest, knocking the breath right out of her. Shred's bloodstained face hovered just a few inches away, and his paws pressed her down into the mud. He reared his head back, his mouth wide, fangs glimmering with her blood, ready to bite down on her neck-

A white flash knocked the statue away, sending it crashing through the mud with tremendous force. Maka watched Shred tumble across the ground, paws flailing. _What...? _She looked up, seeing a long white scarf hovering over her head. She glanced back at the shrine. _Asura...saved me..._

The kishin shot her a brief look and nodded.

She then had the horrifying pleasure of watching the stone fox scrabble to his paws and wheel around, hollow eyes pure malice, charging back for another try. _Oh no...! _

The fox leaped, fangs gnashing and claws unsheathed, seemingly in slow motion as Maka watched it sail through the air toward her.

There was a massive explosion. As she watched, the fox suddenly burst into a million dusty pieces before her very eyes, shot by something that was too quick for her too see. Shards of rock littered the muddy ground, the only remains of a fearsome opponent. She looked up.

Asura had both of his hands inside the second fox statue's mouth, prying it open to keep it away from his neck, and he had fired Vajra at Shred at the last moment. They made brief eye contact before he focused his energy on his own opponent, pointing Vajra into the statue's mouth. One small blast was all that it took for the head to be completely blown off. The statue fell limp, its stoney arms relaxing as it fell into the mud. He shook himself. "No problem."

Maka set her scythe down and concentrated on her wound. She forced herself to sit on the wet ground and apply pressure to the scratches with her glove – one that would no doubt need replacing afterward – to stop the bleeding. Soul reverted back to his human form and stood, gazing out at the clearing. "Maka..."

She looked up at him. "What?"

He frowned. "She's gone."

The meister whipped around, searching the clearing. Soul was right; no witch in sight. _Damn it! She must have made a run for it when we were distracted..._

"It doesn't matter anymore. We need to get home and report this to Shinigami-sama."

"You're hurt."

"Thanks, I noticed." she tugged at her shirt for a strip to wrap her wound in, when Asura was suddenly there, leaning over her. His cold fingers brushed her scratches. "Let me." he whispered, pulling one of his twitching scarves down. He began to wrap it around her leg, just tight enough to keep the blood from flowing. "There. Can you walk?"

She wrapped one arm around his neck and tried to haul herself up, but her wounded leg started to bleed visibly through the scarf. "I think..." she sighed in resignation. "No..."

He looked up at the sky. "...I'll fly you back to Death City."

She frowned. "What about Soul?"

"He wasn't hurt like us, and I'm sure you don't want to endure an agonizing walk back through the desert." he glanced at the albino. "Besides, you can find your own way back, yes?"

Soul shot him a hot glare, and Asura was smart enough to know that he didn't like Maka being alone with him. But he nodded anyway, caving into his concern for Maka's well-being. "Yeah."

"B-but..." Maka glanced at the sky.

"Just trust me."

"Well...I...alright."

* * *

"This was a bad idea...this was a bad idea..."

Maka clung onto the kishin for dear life as Asura sailed through the sky, his arms wrapped around Maka as if he was hugging her. The meister's back faced the ground as it blurred by, but she had stuck to her 'don't look down' promise. She could hear wind whipping past her face, feel the coldness of the air around her, and wanted nothing more than to be put back on the ground. Asura, meanwhile, felt like he was being strangled by a python. "I'm not going to let you fall, Maka." he said for perhaps the millionth time.

The meister responded by burying her head in his neck, shutting her eyes. She tried to concentrate on something else other than the fact that the only thing keeping her from falling to her death was an insane kishin who was already exhausted from the fight. Random thoughts surged through her mind. _I wonder if Kid is doing well since his hair became symmetrical. I hope Blair hasn't set the apartment on fire again. The sun looks extra happy today. I need to get this suit ironed again. Asura's neck sure feels...warm. _Her train of thought stopped at that. It just dawned on her that she was pressed up against Asura so tightly that she could feel his heart beat. _I...hope he doesn't mind. _

He glanced down at her. "Still hanging on?"

"Yep..." she murmured, her voice still shaking. She was pretty sure that Asura just ruined her desire to travel by air.

"That's good." he smiled. Twisting, he flipped himself over on his back and let Maka fly on top, where she wouldn't have to worry about falling down. But when she looked down at the landscape racing by far below, she felt the blood roaring in her ears and her heart began to race so fast she thought it would explode. _Oh my god oh my god oh my god..._

Just as she thought she was going to faint, fall off, and surely go _splat _hundreds of feet below, Asura interrupted her terrified thoughts. "Now that we're alone, I wanted to talk to you."

"I-is now really the place?"

"What's wrong with up here?"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe going a million miles an hour through the _air _isn't the perfect place!"  
He shrugged. "If you want me to slow down, all you need to do is ask. But with the condition you're in, I wouldn't suggest it."

_Hm, a chance to talk to Asura alone, or dealing with this throbbing pain. Asura, pain. _"Can't we just talk later? After we get back to Death City?"

"With the cat and albino nearby?" he screwed up his face disdainfully. "Not my preference."

"I'm hurt you know." she wiggled her hurt leg for emphasis.

He nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, of course. I suppose I can find another place later."

"T-thank you."

"You're welcome, Maka." he started intently at her, making her feel a little uncomfortable. His tone was so _pointed. _He was serious. A little too serious. _He really __does __wants to talk to me. _

When the silence got too awkward: "The clouds are pretty." she stated lamely, and Asura smirked.

"Yes, they are." he shifted. "Would you like to touch one?"

Maka blinked, gazing up at the fluffy white puffs in the sky above her. "Touch one? Pressurized cryogenic water vapor?"

"Um, yes?"

"I guess."

"Way to sound excited." but he angled up anyway, heading straight toward a fairly big cumulus. He got as close as possible without actually flying inside it, but made sure to hold Maka firmly since they were upright again. She clung onto him as tightly as before, folding up her legs a little, glancing at the landscape below nervously. "It's alright, Maka. I'm not going to drop you." he flew a little closer. "Here," he pried off one of Maka's arms and held it out with his own, encouraging her to touch the whiteness. "It'll be a little cold and damp."

She trailed her hand through the cloud as it blew by, her hand collecting the cold water droplets inside. She smiled, reaching her hand farther in. "It's like cotton candy! Only wet."

"The thunderclouds-"

"Cumulonimbus."

"_-__cumulonimbus_ clouds are my favorite."

"Why's that?"

He readjusted his grip on the meister. "I like to fly through them when lightning strikes. I made a kind of game of dodging the bolts."

"Have you ever gotten hit by one?"

Asura looked away, embarrassed. "Uh...yes. Several times actually. When I was revived, I wasn't quite used to flying yet. Lots of, um, problems."

She grinned, liking the idea of the demon god of insanity having flight problems. "Any crash landings?"

"My fair share." He turned in the air and continued along the sky, flying just below the cloud line. "We'll be hitting the desert in a few minutes."

"Oh." she kinda felt disappointed that she couldn't enjoy the sky for much longer. Once she got used to it, being up so high wasn't all that scary, but it did feel weird for her not have anything underneath her at all times. It was certainly more interesting than being on the ground.

"Asura?"

He glanced down. "Mn?"

"Thank you for saving me back there."

"Y-you're welcome." He wasn't used to hearing such sincerity from Maka, so her gratefulness surprised him. But it felt good to be appreciated.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You won't try and take over the world with madness again, will you?"

Asura couldn't answer right away. The only reason he agreed to be kept in Death City like a lapdog was to fully recover his strength _then _take over the world, but he no longer felt the need. For once in his life, he was content where he was. If he was going to change all that by attempting to drown the world in insanity, it wouldn't be the same.

"No. After consideration, I decided that I'm happy where I am at the moment."

_After consideration? Does that mean he planned to? _"Happy?"

"Satisfied. Content. Complacent. I like things the way they are. Not too stressful, not too mellow."

"You mean you like living in a tiny apartment with a couple of dramatic teenagers and their pervy cat?"

"It's an uh...interesting change of events, yes, but I feel that I could be a lot worse off in say, a dungeon. Or even stuck in a bag of my own skin again."

Maka made a face. "It was really cruel of Shinigami-sama to do that."

He tilted his head. "I prefer to think of it as a better alternative to being dead."

"Point taken. But surely you were bored locked up in there?"

"You get used to it eventually, but let's just say that the first ten years were so boring I felt my mind starting to eat itself alive."

"Ew."

"Sorry. I just get upset when I talk about it."

"Then I'm changing the subject. What was life like when you were with Shinigami-sama back them? Before...you know."

He adjusted his grip on Maka, staring down at the sand dunes that sped by. "Very...violent. Shinigami was a warmonger, and was always too quick to battle. Whenever there were reports of skirmishes with witches, he was the first to raise a weapon. So it wasn't surprising that we started to loose many of our own forces shortly after the war started. The Eight always went with him to battle, but we weren't as strong as him. As a Shinigami, he had abnormal amounts of stamina that we just couldn't keep up with. He would fight and fight, often multiple battles in a single day, and we Eight would get weaker and weaker. He didn't even seem to care that we became more exhausted. He just wanted to kill every which he got his hands on."

"That reminds me...that fox witch said that she was alive during that time. Have you ever heard of her?"

"As a matter of fact, perhaps. I recall reading a book about famous witch heritage lines, and came across the Canus family."

"Canus? A dog witch family?"

"Yes. The first of that line was a Wolf, but her daughter was a Fox. Since the first Fox witch, every Canus since then has been Fox, and the way I read it, animals only appear identical within families. In other words, a Fox witch can only be born into the Canus family."

"Oh, I see. You you think that the witch we met was a Canus?"

"Most likely."

"Hm. Are they dangerous?"

"Unfortunately. The Canus family was famed for its strength in battle, but this Fox seems to be especially skilled in illusion type magic, which isn't normal for a witch."

"Based on my experience, I'd say that it doesn't change much."

"We don't need to worry about her anymore. If she's as smart as her animal counterpart, she won't dare try to attack us again." he flexed his shoulders. "Not while I'm around."


End file.
